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SERVICE RECORD OF MEN 
OF THE HANOVER 
NATIONAL BANK OF THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK 



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SERVICE RECORD OF MEN 
OF THE HANOVER 
NATIONAL BANK OF THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK 

BEING AN ACCOUNT OF 
THE EXPERIENCES OF THE MEN OF 
THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 
IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR 




PUBLISHED FOR 
PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION 

1920 



!uu<rU.cy^ n 



I\5T0 



PBINTKD BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS 

NORWOOD • U • 8 • A • IN THE 

MONTH OP FEBRUARY 

MCMXX 



T\>jL iAcw<n>^WuAi- P^o^V. 



C^>^. \0.i<^2ci 



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o 



J DEDICATION 

^ TO THE WAR SERVICE MEN OF THE 

HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

THE purpose of the Editors has been to compile a short 
history of your experiences in the late war. No literary 
embellishment has been attempted. Your story is pre- 
sented in your simple, direct language, each man telling 
his own story in his own way. It is particularly appro- 
priate to speak of your book as a human document. The 
experiences through which so many of you have passed in 
the service of your country would now gladly be forgotten. 
Many of you gave us your stories with great reluctance, 
which is a tribute to your modesty. It is quite apparent, 
to read between the lines that there were many experiences 
of which you might have spoken; but modesty is ever a 
characteristic of a brave man. In recognition of your high 
devotion to duty, and as a tribute thereto, the bank by this 
means desires to preserve the record of your service. 

James P. Gardner 
Henry H. Montgomery 
Walter L. Oliphant 
W. I. Thomas 

Editors 



FOREWORD 

IN the momentous days following the murder of Arch- 
duke Francis Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife at Sera- 
jevo, June 28, 1914, there arose throughout the country a 
feeling of intense excitement and suspense. The Declara- 
tion of War on France by Germany, her treacherous in- 
vasion of Belgium, in violation of sacred treaty rights to 
which Germany was a party, but which she perfidiously 
considered a "Scrap of Paper," were quickly followed on 
August 4 by the Declaration of War by Great Britain 
against Germany in defense of the treaty rights of 
Belgium. 

The air was charged with possibilities of a great war 
in which the whole of Europe might become involved. The 
possibilities were considered remote that the United States 
would eventually be drawn into the conflict and that mil- 
lions of our own young men would cross the seas to engage 
in deadly combat with the treacherous Hun on the battle- 
fields of Europe. 

The reality came. The young men with difficulty ad- 
justed their minds to the thought of going to war; some- 
thing entirely foreign to their training and environment. 
But as the months passed, and as reports of the terrible 
cruelties and "dirty" methods of war practised by the 
Germans on land and sea came to us, and as crime upon 
crime was added to the record, the Hun's defiance of 
international law and the claims of civilization, as well as 
Germany's many offenses against the dignity and honor of 
the United States, awakened the wrath of our country. 
On April 6, 1917, the Call to Arms sounded, and the 
young men of the country arose. Among them, the boys 
of the Hanover National Bank responded, ninety-three 
being enrolled in the different branches of the Service. 

[7] 



FOREWORD 

The training in obedience and the strict discipline pecu- 
liar to a Bank organization were excellent preparation for 
military service, and once adjusted to the changed condi- 
tions of life peculiar to the Army, the men made splendid 
material for soldiers. With the determination, intelli- 
gence, and nervous force possessed in such high degree 
by bank men, "our boys" responded to the healthful ac- 
tivities of their outdoor life. 

A change was noticeable as the men came back on leave 
from time to time to visit their friends in the Bank. 
Their handshake was firmer; their tread more confident; 
their carriage more erect. They had gained in weight, 
their skin was clearer and their eyes brighter. 

The correspondence between the men in camp, on the 
battlef ront and on the high seas, and their fellow clerks and 
officers was frequent and very interesting. Much of this 
correspondence has been preserved and is here presented 
as written. One cannot read these letters without noticing 
the high purpose which pervades the correspondence and 
without catching something of the spirit which inspired the 
writers. They are living documents and for that reason 
have a peculiar interest. 

In recognition of the faithful service of the men, and as 
an evidence of the pride of the Bank in their accomplish- 
ments, this volume has been prepared that there may be 
a record for future time of the part borne in the Great 
World War by the young men of the Hanover National 
Bank. 

James P. Gardner 
Henry H. Montgomery 
Walter L. Oliphant 
W. I. Thomas 

Editors 



[8] 




C. G. SAHLQUIST 



3n Q^emotiam 

C. G. SAHLQUIST H. C. STEUERXAGEL 

IT xvas not tvillcd that you should return to your ac- 
customed duties or to share in the results of Victory to 
which you had dedicated your lives. We shall treasure 
the memory of your sacrifice, that it may strengthen and 
ennoble our devotion to our tasks. 

The Editors 



*CHARLES G. SAHLQUIST 

Born at Stockholm, Sweden, April 14, 1895. Came to America 

when seven years of age. 
Attended Public Schools of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Died at Base Hospital in France, result of shrapnel wounds, 

September 2, 1918. 



M, 



.R. SAHLQUIST enlisted June 23, 1917; left New York 
October 29, 1917, on Steamer America; landed in Brest, France, 
November 12, 1917; moved to Training Camp November 16, 
1917; en route through Dijon November 18, 1917 ; on the way to 
Lorraine Front February 16-17, 1918. He was a member of 
Machine Gun Company, 165th Infantry. Their Regiment was 
in the front line at Rouge Bouquet, March 1-22, 1918: Actions 
at Houdranville, Ancerville and Rendezvous le Chasseurs, with hot 
fighting and heavy losses from the last of March to the end of 
May. June 23-24, 1918: Returned to Neuf chateau for a rest, 
but hurried instead to the Champagne to help halt the great Ger- 
man offensive of July 15. July 21, 1918, en route via Paris to 
Chateau-Thierry. July 21-28, 1918: Continuous hot fighting 
and losses of 600 from Foret de Fere to Foret de Nesles. July 28 
to August 4, 1918: The 69th's proudest achievement — the 
crossing of the Ourcq. 

It was at this spot that Private Sahlquist was hit by shrapnel. 
He was in the hospital. Base 34, until August 24, 1918, when he 
was moved to Base Hospital 8, and it was decided to amputate the 
right leg. Gas poisoning set in, and he "went west" September 
2, 1918. He is buried at Savigny, near St. Nazaire, on the west 
coast of France. 



[9] 



*HENRY CORNELIUS STEUERNAGEL 

Born at New York City, May 3, 1896. 

Attended Public School No. 82 and High School of Commerce, 

New York City. 
Died in training at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., December 6, 1917. 



Ml 



.R. STEUERNAGEL began his business career with the 
Park & Tilford Company. After a short experience there, 
he decided to take up the banking business. He was em- 
ployed by the Hanover National Bank until called to the service. 
He registered at Local Board No. 4 of Westchester County at 
White Plains, N. Y., on June 5, 1917 ; passed the examination 
and was placed on the list, subject to the call of the Government. 
October 8 he was sent to Camp Upton for training with the 14th 
Company of the 152nd Depot Brigade. Transferred to Camp 
Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., October 29, serving with Company A, 321st 
Machine Gun Battalion. Mr. Steurnagel had never complained of 
ill health, but on December 4, 1917, his parents received a tele- 
gram stating that he had been operated upon and that his con- 
dition was hopeful. This was closely followed by another dis- 
patch stating, "Condition serious. No hope." His father 
started for Camp Gordon immediately, but did not reach Atlanta 
before the death of his son. Mr. Steuernagel died December 6, 
1917. His body was brought liome from Georgia and buried in 
the family plot in the Lutheran Cemetery at Middle Village, Long 
Island. 



[ 10] 



SERVICE RECORD 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN 

OF THE 
HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

CHARLES HENRY ADAMS 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., October 21, 1894. 
Attended Public Schools of New Brighton, S. /., N. Y. 



W: 



HILE on my vacation in the summer of 1917 I was con- 
tinually reminded that America was at war. This was im- 
pressed on me by newspaper reports and posters, which read : 
"Don't be a slacker." As I had friends in the old 69th New York 
National Guard (Infantry) and noticed the Regiments' induce- 
ments, which read: "First National Guard to France, 'First to 
Fight,' " I joined the regiment on June 26, 1917. July 16 we 
were sworn into the Federal service, and on August 20 we left 
the Armory at 26th Street for Camp Albert L. Mills, N. Y. 
Our regiment was selected for a new division, one of the very 
first divisions of the new American Army. It was the 42nd 
(Rainbow Division). This division comprised twenty-seven se- 
lected units of the National Guard, drawn from twenty-six of 
the states, and from the District of Columbia. After we were 
organized at Camp Mills, we settled down to two months of 
intensive training, which kept us on the move eight hours a day 
and late at night training new equipment. 

At taps on October 25, 1917, we entrained for Canada, and 
on October 27 we arrived at Montreal, where we boarded a 
transport which sailed the next morning for Halifax, Nova 
Scotia. On reaching here we picked our convoy up and then 
started on our trip to "Muddy France." The meals on the 
ship were nice to forget about, as they were cooked by an English 
cobbler who knew more about shoes than boiling water Tvdthout 
scalding it. 

[ 13 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

After zigzagging across the Atlantic for ten days and getting 
my first dose of sea-sickness, we finally landed at Liverpool, 
where we boarded trains for Southampton. We rested here over 
night at an English Rest Camp, and on the following night, 
under the cover of darkness, we got aboard a boat and crossed 
the Channel for La Havre, France. 

We left La Havre November 13 for Boves, where we received 
our first warfare training in France. It was here we found out 
what a billet was like. The billets here were old shack stables 
and hen houses. With the advent of Christmas week the division 
received an order to move from the Area it occupied, to begin 
December 26. The hilly roads were heavily glazed; the wind 
was high; and the thermometer dropped below zero. On the 
26th we started on a hike of sixty miles, in a blizzard, which 
took us four days to cover. The end of the hike found us at 
Percey-le-Paute (Meuthra-et-Moselle) where we received our final 
training before entering the lines. 

On the 28th of February, 1918, I went into the trenches at 
Rouge Bouquet (Luneville Sector) for a sample of what trench 
warfare was. This sector was a rest sector for the French, until 
the Americans started sending their regards over in the form of 
a shell. It was here that I learned what a gun and gas-mask 
were made for. We stayed in the lines for seven days, and then 
moved, after having taken a rest, to the town of Baccart. After 
a month's training at Baccart, under the French, we went into 
lines again. It was at the sub-sector of Merviller. We stayed 
in this sector for 140 days, taking turns in the lines for seven 
days at a time. At the Rendezvous le Chasseurs sector we were 
in trenches for fifteen days without relief. I took part in a 
number of patrols while up in this sector. 

On leaving this front we looked for a long rest, but were out 
of luck, as we received orders to move to the Champagne Front. 
After a ride in "side-door puUmans," marked in French "40 men 
or 8 horses," we arrived at the town of Vitry-le-Fran9ois. We 
were paid, and while I was out celebrating in Chalons, I heard 
my regiment was under orders to move, and I got back in time 
to hike 35 kilometers to Camp de Chalons. 

[ 14 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

On July 4 we moved into the lines, and for a week I worked 
nights digging trenches and putting up barbed wire entangle- 
ments. On July 14 we took over our positions of defense against 
the Huns in their last attempt to take Paris. Their attack 
lasted three days, and they fell back in disorder, gaining nothing. 
After the attack had been broken, we were withdrawn and shipped 
to another front. This front turned out to be Chateau-Thierry. 
We went into lines here on July 28 with a full company, and I 
was one of the few to escape with a slight wound. While out 
with a patrol in front of our lines, on the morning of July 30, 
unfortunately I stopped a piece of shrapnel with my leg, which 
proved afterward to be a slight wound. I hiked about three 
kilometers over rough country, back to the First Aid Station 
to have my wound dressed, and I returned to my company the 
next day. On August 4 we were relieved by the 4th Division and 
August 17 found us on our way to the St. Mihiel salient. As 
I had been fortunate so far in all the engagements that fell my 
way, I decided to see Paris, now that I was but a short distance 
from the Big City. My slogan at that time was "Paris or bust." 
Having two months pay in my pockets, I decided to take a 
"French leave." I carefully evaded all the M. P.'s and boarded 
a train on the move, on the outskirts of La Ferte. Once in the 
City I began to look things over. I could only afford to look at 
them for two days, but in that time I sampled everything that 
a "Frog" considered a luxury. As my two months' pay was 
gone, and I was about to go into the hands of a receiver, I decided 
to return to my company once again and partake of the Army 
menu. I got back to the outfit in time to hike the remaining kilo- 
meters to the St. Mihiel salient. At daybreak on the morning 
of September 12, after lying in a rain-storm all night, we started 
our attack on the Huns. I took my first prisoner here, and I had 
a meal from a Hun kitchen which we captured, also some beer 
from a trainload of rations that the Huns left in their haste to 
get away. 

September 30 we were withdrawn from this Front and shipped 
to take part in the Argonne offensive. On my birthday, October 
12, we went into the lines again, relieving the First Division. My 

[ 15 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Company made several attacks here, and on the last attack I 
was one of the twentj-six to return with a slight scratch. While 
back in the reserve I was taken sick and shipped to a hospital, 
where I slept between the white sheets for ten days. I was dis- 
charged from the hospital in time to go into the lines November 5, 
where I stayed until we were relieved, which was on the heights' 
of Sedan, November 10. 

After the Armistice was signed, the Rainbow Division was 
selected for the Army of Occupation, and we received orders to 
get ready for a hike to the Rhine. We passed through Belgium, 
and on Thanksgiving day stopped at Luxemburg. December 2,' 
we crossed the Hne into Germany. 

We finally reached the Rhine on December 23, 1918. We 
were stationed at Remagen until April 12, 1919, when we received 
orders to entrain for Brest. After a three days stay at Brest, 
we boarded the transport U. S. S. Harrishurg for home. 

I was discharged from the service May 5, 1919, at Camp Upton, 
Long Island, having engaged in the following battles of the 165th 
Infantry (Old 69th New York National Guard) : 

Battles etc., of the 165th Infantry, U. S. A. 
Luneville Sector, in Lorraine, March 1-22, 1918. 

Foret de Parroy. 
Baccarat Sector, in Lorraine, April 23-May 13, 1918. 

Ancerville. 

Rendezvous le Chasseurs, June 3-18, 1918. 
Champagne Defensive, July 4-19, 1918. 

Suippes. 
Ourcq Offensive, July 28-August 4, 1918. 
St. Mihiel Offensive, September 12-17, 1918. 

Bois de Dampvitoux, September 27-30, 1918. 
Argonne Offensive. 

Cote de Maldah, October 11-21, 1918. 
Advance on Sedan, November 5-8, 1918. 



[ 16 ] 




C. H. ADAMS 



CLAUDE M. ADAMSON 




JOHN P. AXDERSON 



JOHN A. BARNETT 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 



CLAUDE M. ADAMSON 

Born at Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies, January 

14, 1893. 
Attended Ayr Academy, Ayr, Scotland; Queen's Royal College, 

Trinidad; Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

1 CAME to the United States on May 27, 1906. Started work 
at the Hanover National Bank in April, 1910. Resigned to pre- 
pare for college, August 1913. Returned to the employ of the 
bank January 22, 1917. Entered the service on May 3, 1918. 
Sailed for France June 15, 1918, and went into the trenches for 
the first time on August 12. Returned to the United States May 
20, 1919. ^ 

On May 3, 1918, I left my home bound for Fort Slocum. 
That was the start of my army career. I did not see Flatbush 
again until May 24, 1919. Between those two dates I toured 
the South, crossed the Atlantic, and traveled extensively in 
France. My stay in Fort Slocum was limited to two days, 
which was quite enough, however. A German prison camp held 
no terrors for anyone who had passed through Fort Slocum. 
On Monday morning we left by boat for Jersey City, where we 
entrained for Anniston, Ala. We were assigned to the 29th 
Division in training at Camp McClellan. As we were comfort- 
ably settled in old Pullman cars, I enjoyed the trip. We passed 
through Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and also quite 
a few southern towns whose names were very familiar and redolent 
of the Hanover: SaHsbury, N. C, Raleigh, N. C, GreenviUe, 
Gastonia, Spartanburg, Atlanta. The trip took three days, 
Anniston being reached on Wednesday afternon. We were 
marched over to the recruit camp, where we drilled for two 
weeks, after which period we were assigned to the different organ- 
izations. My assignment was Company D, of the 111th Machine 
Gun Battalion. Although I was born and bred for eleven years 
m the West Indies, I never knew that the sun could generate 
such heat as we experienced in Alabama. The temperature made 

[ 17 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the gas-mask drill very unpleasant, and that was our main 
occupation. So it was with relief that we received orders to 
move, on June 6. Our objective this time was NcAvport News, 
Ya., and this trip found us in day coaches, the first step down 
in traveling. Reaching Camp Hill on Saturday, we remained 
there a week, embarking on transports the following Friday, 
June 14, a bit discontented at not having had the chance to see 
our folks. 

We found ourselves under way on Saturday morning but by 
no means alone. There were several other transports, and we 
steamed in regular formation. On each flank was a destroyer 
and, forming a complete square around the convoy but at a 
great distance from it, were at least twenty submarine chasers. 
The latter looked for all the world like submarines themselves. 
Their cabins and masts looked from a distance exactly like the 
conning tower and periscope of a submarine, and their low hulls 
completed the resemblance. Soon we were introduced to the 
original and only genuine article. 

It was about half past seven Sunday morning and I was up 
in the extreme bow in the washroom. Suddenly the whistle blew 
a long blast and a fellow came in on the run saying that we had 
sighted submarines. I immediately made for my hatch, which 
was just in front of the stairs up to the promenade and bridge 
decks. The submarine was off our port stern and I was coming 
down the port side, so for the short time I could, I watched pro- 
ceedings. I could not catch a glimpse of the enemy, however, 
for while I was looking "it" was hidden by the splashes of shells. 

Just then there was a terrific bang right over my head and I 
found myself enveloped in red smoke. I thought at first we had 
been torpedoed but as there was no further effect, gave up that 
idea and thought a shell from the submarine had struck. Of 
course, all that thinking took about a fiftieth of a second. Then 
I discovered that it was the report and flash from our own six 
inch bow guns. I could not hear anything for about an hour 
or so, but had a ringing in my head. We were ordered below 
and had to stand in line in the hold while the subs and our guns 
and escort fought the matter out. That is all I saw on account 

[ 18 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

of being ordered below. The firing continued for some time and 
it was about an hour before we were allowed up. As far as I 
can learn there were two subs in the attack. Some say three. 
There were two torpedoes fired, one aimed to hit either us or an- 
other ship outside of us, the sub being in the middle. However, 
the torpedo went ahead of us and astern of the other. The second 
torpedo went astern. The subs were forced to discontinue the 
action and save themselves because of the arrival of our escort. 
It is reported that the submarine chasers discovered the sub- 
marine on the surface repairing her periscope and disposed of 
her. They are also reported to have disposed of others. It 
is quite a sensation to stand below decks while a submarine and 
your own guns decide which ship is going down. 

Sunday afternoon we had another display, of a diflferent nature, 
but very interesting. About two o'clock we sighted smoke on 
the horizon directly ahead and soon the funnels and hulls of a 
fleet quite considerable in size. Immediately there was much 
speculation as to what we were in for now. "The German Fleet !" 
That impression was heightened by the maneuver of the Mosquito 
Fleet, which at this time turned toward the convoy and closed in. 
We soon discovered that our visitors were a fleet of large trans- 
ports out of New York with the other half of our Division on 
board. The submarine chasers left us at this point and returned. 
Our convoy now consisted of fourteen transports, with a destroyer 
on each flank, and a cruiser leading. The flagship of the convoy 
was the U. S. S. George Washington, a huge ship gaily painted 
pale blue and white. Among the ships were the Kroonland, the 
Fiidand, the ex-Prinz Eitel Freidrich, the Pastores, the Princess 
Matoika, the Tsar, and several others whose names I never 
knew. You will notice that those I mentioned include British, 
German, Italian, Russian and American ships. Our ship was 
the Wihelmina, an American ship formerly on the Pacific Coast, 
and armed with four six-inch guns, a battery of smaller guns, and 
machine guns. It was certainly a majestic sight, all those big 
ships moving steadily along, first to port and then to starboard, 
all camouflaged in difi'erent ways. One ship was so painted that 
she seemed to be moving in a direction oblique to her real course. 

[ 19 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Every morning at 3:30 we were summoned to our stations for 
"Abandon ship" drill. Gradually as the daylight came, the 
ships seemed to appear out of the mist, and at night at 8:30 
at the same performance we watched them sink back again. 
Dawn and dusk were the most dangerous periods of the day and 
we were always ready for any eventuality at these hours. The 
guns were manned, the crew at action stations, and the troops 
at lifeboat stations. In the line we had the same thing in "Stand 
to" at the same periods. 

Three times on the voyage our ship stopped and lost sight of 
the convoy, a very peculiar experience. Mid-ocean, stopped, a 
destroyer and a cruiser circling the ship. The second and third 
times we stopped to give the destroyer oil and for that purpose 
she came alongside and the cruiser circled alone. It was quite a 
ticklish job to bring two ships together in mid-ocean, and the 
break in the monotony was welcome. It gave us an excellent 
opportunity to have a close view of a destroyer. 

Brest was our destination and to reach that port it is not 
necessary to enter the Bay of Biscay. However, the traditional 
Biscay weather greeted us one day out. There was a high wind, 
a heavy sea, and all regrets that some of the troops may have 
had that they were in the army instead of the navy disappeared. 
A meeker or more pacific lot of men never were. However, there 
was plenteous consolation to be found in regarding our destroyer 
convoy. A squadron of the latter had come out from Brest to 
take us through the danger zone. "A destroyer in a rough sea" 
is a synonym for naval discomfort, and it certainly looked to 
be so. They were half hidden most of the time, with seas smash- 
ing over them. When they rolled they lay almost completely over. 

Friday morning we sighted land and were soon welcomed by 
aeroplanes. We took off our life preservers and started to 
enjoy the show. I was told later by the Battalion Chaplain that 
while we were thus enjoying the sight of land once more and the 
fact of having escaped the subs, a torpedo passed within fifteen 
feet of our stern. The captain of the ship was his informant. 

The entrance to Brest harbor is a long inlet with high ground 
on each side. We entered about noon, fourteen big ships with 

[ 20 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

flags flying, steaming in line ahead, escorted by destroyers. A 
dirigible passed overhead and the aeroplanes circled above us. 
What with the ships, the airships, the blue sky, the green hill on 
either side, and the clear atmosphere, going into Brest was a 
wonderful sight. 

After disembarking we marched to the Pontanezen Barracks 
outside of Brest. These barracks were said to have been used 
as prison barracks by Napoleon, and I do not doubt the state- 
ment. However, we were there only five days. On Wednesday 
morning came our introduction to box cars, side door pullmans, 
the immortal "48 hommes 8 chevaux" limited. For three days 
we "hoboed" across France. The weather was fine, the 
scenery interesting. France is a very beautiful country — to 
look at. We traveled in various directions entirely across the 
country, from Brest to the Alsatian district. During the re- 
mainder of July and the first part of August we went through 
a period of training and gradually moved up to the line. 

On August 12, after several alarms, we went into the trenches 
for the first time. We remained in the line for about a week 
without anything much happening. We were relieved one night 
when every gun in the sector was active, and a few hours after 
we had left the position was blown about rather badly. 

The next two weeks were spent in "rest" billets — so called. 
It was a case of drill during the day and move out to reserve 
positions during the night. During our first night there the 
place was bombed. I find that my mail home contains an account 
of one day's life behind the line. It tells just how things were. 

"We are still in rest billets, dwelling at times in the midst 
of alarms. However, they have only been of the disagreeable and 
not of the dangerous variety. I suppose you think (I know I 
used to) that a soldier on active service in France, especially as 
near the front as we are, sees so many things of the novel and 
interesting variety that he would have a hard job keeping his 
letters within reasonable limits. Unfortunately that is far from 
the truth. Nevertheless, there are days when special attractions 
come to town. Monday evening was such. 

[ 21 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

"The Chaplain had come over Sunday evening and we had 
a very nice service out under the trees. Afterwards there was 
a general sing-song into the night. On Monday evening the 
Chaplain and the Y. M. C. A. man came over with a supply of 
canteen stuff, biscuits, tobacco, etc., so we had an opportunity 
for something outside of the usual in the line of eats. After 
that was over the Y. M. C. A. man, Dr. McArthur of Pittsburgh, 
a fine big man, gave us a splendid address on Lincoln. It was 
great. Along with it there was an informal concert by certain 
stars of the Company. Best of all the music, in my opinion, was 
a song by a fellow from Dundee; it was just a doggerel sort of 
thing with a refrain by the gang, but we certainly laughed. 
Altogether it was a great evening and we enjoyed it, the address, 
the songs, and the break in the monotony. 

"There was still another number on the program, however, 
unknown and unsuspected. About eleven o'clock some one banged 
on the door and forced his way in. Blowing his whistle, the 
lieutenant announced that a general alarm had been sent out 
and we were to prepare to move off immediately. So it was 
dress again, make up pack, pack gun carts and finally move 
off bound for our positions in reserve. Starting at one o'clock 
we reached there at four, left at seven and arrived back at ten, 
a nice twenty-mile hike and for — a night maneuver. Anyway 
we rested the next day. But oh, for the piping days of peace! 
Why don't they hold the war in the daytime.? 

"Yesterday was a dull day. Today has been full. This morn- 
ing we went out to drill as usual. But after an hour or so of 
it the lieutenant said that we would fill in the remainder of the 
morning by games. 

"First we had the circle, where all sit close around and one 
stands rigid in the center, falling over and being tossed around 
until some one lets him fall on him. Sounds pretty rough, but 
isn't, least of all for the chap in the center. Then we had a 
relay race and various other lively games, finishing up with a 
tug-of-war with the first platoon. We all got set and at the 
whistle gave a mighty heave, the rope snapped exactly in the 
middle and the other platoon seated itself on the sward. None 

[ 22 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

of us fell. As we felt sure it was a frame-up, it being their rope, 
we were exceedingly pleased. 

"Then we had what is called O'Grady Company Drill by the 
Captain. It is similar to the old familiar game Simon Says 
"Thumbs Up." It is done to make us keep our wits about us. The 
Company in detail was doubling up the road by dozens almost, 
that being the penalty. The Captain would give these O'Grady 
commands and we would be marching forward, then all of a 
sudden the old familiar 'Company Halt !' Well, out of pure 
force of habit, thirty per cent halted, and thereupon doubled up 
the road. Finally, when all the delinquents had been allowed 
back into the ranks, the Captain said, 'Who hasn't been caught 
this morning?' With a whole gang of others my hand went up. 
'Did O'Grady say so?' quoth the Captain. Na}', nay — and 
around the tree we doubled. I thought the bally thing was over. 
After a while it was over, and they ordered us to get back to our 
guns and prepare to go in for lunch, but never a man moved — 
until the O'Grady issue was settled. This afternoon we had a 
great baseball game between our Company and Company B. It 
was very exciting, the score being 11 to 6 in favor of B." 

Our Chaplain has made a name for himself, "The Fighting 
Parson." He was in the line during a raid while another Com- 
pany was on duty. He was in the gun emplacement and the fire 
was quite severe, shrapnel, so we crawled into one of the gun pits 
where the gun was silent for some reason (not casualty). All of 
a sudden the officer commanding heard a steady stream of fire 
from such-and-such a gun. When a whole belt had gone another 
went in and fire recommenced. He immediately rose in the air 
"Hey! why the . . . doesn't that gun fire in bursts?" The 
gunner looked around the corner, "Am I firing too fast, sir?" It 
was the Chaplain. Machine guns fire in bursts of a certain num- 
ber of shots, any number 5, 10, 50, etc., as ordered, never a 
steady stream unless against enemy infantry advancing visible 
in close formation. So the Chaplain is quite a hero. He went 
through other experiences that night as well, and has himself seen 
war. 

Soon our turn for the trenches returned. One day we were 

[ 23 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

told that we would leave that night on a two day maneuver, and 
I will again quote from one of my letters : 

"I have just finished the weirdest couple of days that I ever 
have spent, but feel quite satisfied at the experience. In my last 
letter I told you I was leaving that night for a two day maneuver. 
Well, as I expected, the enemy was concerned. We left here 
at eight-thirty Thursday night in a drizzle of rain and marched, 
with hourly rests, until four a. m. Friday, finding ourselves just 
behind the front line trenches in a wood on the hill to the right 
of our former emplacements, and considerably further forward. 
It was pitch dark and in the dark we had to feel the way for our 
gun carts to park them in a clearing in the wood. 

"Then we were told that there was a large dugout in the 
vicinity in which we could go to sleep. Just then it began to 
pour. No one seemed to know where the dugout was and no one 
could find it. I decided to wait by the carts until they did find 
it, with the result that I was soon alone, the others all dropping 
away gradually. By that time the day began to dawn. Being 
very tired and sleepy, I spread my wet overcoat on the soaked 
ground and curled up with my steel helmet over my face to keep 
the rain off. I slept for a while and was awakened by the others 
talking. Then, it being daylight, I made another hunt for a 
dugout and finally located it, taking another rest and then 
going out into the sun to dry off. Queerest night's rest I have yet 
spent. But I didn't seem to feel at all miserable over it. 

"About four-thirty we began to work on our positions and to 
bring up the guns and ammunition. Quite a job, when I tell 
you that we each had 6250 rounds of ammunition. Of course, 
the position was about a mile and a half from the carts. It was 
quite a job dragging that stuff, and part of it had to be done 
through the windings of the trenches. Late at night we finished. 
Then we lay down by our guns to sleep, as the show was to be 
about four-thirty a. m. It was to be a barrage of heavy and 
field artillery, trench mortars, one pounders, and machine guns 
and we were all grouped in that wood. All day while we had 
been carrying the stuff, an artillery duel had been going steadily on. 

[ 24 ] 



— ^— — ■— ^M— ■■ ■ ■■ ■ ■ TiTWMiTr-MT-irt-^ aa 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

You would hear Slam ! Whee ! ! Boom ! ! ! Then later the reverse, 
Boom ! Whee ! ! Slam ! ! ! The guns near you go "slam" and so do 
exploding shells, those far off go Boom ! or Cr-r-rump ! quite simi- 
lar. I heard more artillery that afternoon than all the time we 
were in the line. 

"At four- twenty-five we were ordered to 'stand to.' The 
orders were that the artillery would open fire and five minutes 
later we would do the same, ceasing fire on signal from the front. 
At four-thirty-eight a white rocket went up and the first gun 
fired. As soon as that shell exploded on the enemy's line 
bedlam let loose in that wood. It was slam bang in front and 
slam bang in rear. We never spent a longer five minutes than 
the next five minutes crouching there in the gray light of very 
early morning awaiting the signal to open fire. Then it came, 
and I won't say how many dozen machine guns crashed out. 
Then it was super-bedlam. Also it was work rushing the supply 
of ammunition. The Fourth of July is nothing. 

*'The infantry had gone over shouting their battle cry, 'Wow, 
wow, wow,' as fast as they could and without end. Then came 
the order to cease fire, and the idea was to get packed up and 
out of that wood before the enemy retaliated. But it was quite 
a while before we finally left. 

"We had a long, long hike before us, but after getting out of 
the immediate trench zone, we were allowed to rest for quite a 
while. Here is where I want to give our Lieutenant his due. He 
gave us as long rests as possible, hiked us as easily as he could, 
led us down a shady road by the canal instead of the sunny, dusty, 
hot highway, brought us some chocolate and biscuits, and in 
every way possible made things easy for us. So we trudged 
back to billets tired, sleepy, footsore and hungry, to find a big 
dinner waiting for us, the first meal since Thursday evening. 
It is now Saturday afternoon. Tonight we hike back to the billets 
we were in formerly, and tomorrow go up to the line again. But 
what do we care." 

If you want the real stuff just try firing a heavy barrage in 
the cold gray dawn of a morning. Shooting lions or crocodiles 
has nothing on it. The enemy lost quite a few prisoners, and 

[ 25 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

it is reported that there were many enemy killed "from machine 
gun fire," found by the infantry. 

Sunday night we left again for the line, more rain, and got 
soaked. Then waiting at Manspach the whole of Monday we 
moved into position, Monday midnight. From then until Thurs- 
day it was constant rain. The trenches were water-logged, our 
dugout practically afloat, and the mud and ooze all over and around 
us. Added to that our sleep was very much disturbed on account 
of about six or seven gas alarms per night. 

A week straight of such conditions and the fact that our feet 
were always soaking wet, was not the best of things in the 
hygienic sense. However, the rain ceased so the trenches and 
we dried out. There was quite a bit of activity during this 
trick. After two weeks we were relieved on Sunday, September 
22, by Algerian troops. The rain was on again and our march 
meant wet feet. We were lying around the road waiting for 
transportation all that night, and at three a. m. a thunder shower 
added its quota. Then away in trucks to billets. Another day 
of rain in Frahier and move again at three a. m. of the 24th. We 
marched through a swamp, loaded our stuff (guns, carts, wagons, 
etc.) on trains and pulled out. Next day off at Mussey in the 
road of the Verdun front up to Rembercourt we hiked ; having 
something to eat was not in the itinerary. About two o'clock 
we had hardtack and carrots. 

We lay around for a day and washed and shaved. Friday 
night, the 27th, we moved out to a road to take up reserve 
positions for the drive in the Argonne. It was bitterly cold, 
wet and we had no shelter. Another day of dampness and an- 
other night of the same and we moved to another position. I 
was then pretty well under the weather. I had headache, fever 
and chills off and on, and felt weak. I hiked with full pack for 
five kilos and was glad when we stopped. Sunday night I was 
packed off to hospital. I was about the tenth in the Company 
to go. The fact of the matter was that continual wet and damp 
had started things and having had little to eat, none of it even 
warm, for two weeks, I was in no condition to resist an attack 
of influenza or whatever it was. 

[ 26 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

At first I was not going to be sent to hospital but when the 
ambulance came they packed me off as well. I was taken to 
evacuation hospital. The next day I was taken aboard a hos- 
pital train and brought to Allerey, I wasn't sick enough to 
warrant being kept in bed for two weeks, but the doctor evi- 
dently considered me among the ward furniture and fixtures. 
My feed was army mess and nothing extra at that. But the 
bed felt good after the soaked mother earth. 

The time between the Armistice and the port of embarkation 
(six months in my case) was spent between a detail in hospital, 
a month with the Company, and a detail in Bourges. The hos- 
pital was monotonous and wearisome; the Company indulged in 
maneuvers, barrages, and road mending, and then I was sent 
to the Central Records office in Bourges. I was glad of the 
chance to live in a French city and come to know the people. It 
was unfair to judge the French people by the class of peasantry 
we came in contact with in billets. Bourges was a good sized 
town with one of the finest cathedrals of France and many 
"patisseries." To one who had been separated from all such 
physical and mental treats for over a 3'ear, both of these attrac- 
tions were a welcome change. 

After a long and wearisome wait tlie Division was ordered to 
St. Nazaire. We stayed there for about two weeks and embarked 
for home. The return trip was a twelve day affair, but at last 
we reached New York and it did look fine. After a week in Camp 
Dix we received our discharges. 

I was in the service a year and two weeks, of which time eleven 
months and five da,ys were spent on foreign service. After it 
was over I realized what a great experience it had been, giving 
me a different outlook on an astonishingly wide range of sub- 
jects, and proving how full of luxury is ordinary civilian life. 



[ 27 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

JOHN P. ANDERSON 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., May 3, 1891. 

Attended Public School No. 15 ; also Boys' High School. 



u 



PON leaving High School, wishing to learn the Banking 
business, I accepted a position in the National City Bank of 
New York, where I remained for two years. My family moving 
to Portland, Oregon, I accompanied them to that city, and 
there identified myself with a bank. We returned to New York 
in 1917; and I entered the employ of the Hanover National 
Bank. On August 3, 1917, I enlisted in the New York Naval 
Militia. Reported for duty at the 52nd Street Armory, Brooklyn, 
August 17, 1917, being assigned to a Training Regiment and 
receiving my full outfit. In the 2nd Company of the Fifth 
Division we had six weeks of training in seamanship, infantry, 
signals, and rules of Government in the U. S. N. Towards the 
end of September we were detailed for duty with the Cable Cen- 
sor's Office, remaining at that station for about four months. 
After that I was detailed on the U. S. S. Calumet for sea duty. 
I found the work very interesting and liked the life. The food 
and clothing were good. The Calumet was a fast ship, and many 
times in rough weather, when she nosed into the heavy seas, the 
rails would be awash and the lifeboats scooping up water, the 
ship rolling at an angle of about 38 degrees. She was one of 
the fastest ships in the fleet. Our fleet was the first convoy to 
sea from American waters. The convoy duty was about 1500 
miles to sea and return; then patrol work along the New York 
and New Jersey coasts. We were on this duty at sea for six 
days, with three days off duty ashore. I made five trips ; and on 
one of these eventful trips received an injury; was taken to port, 
having to submit to a slight operation ; which of course, relieved me 
of sea duty. I was then transferred to shore duty. Arrived 
at Pelham Training Station in August, 1918, for the Quarter- 
master School for training as Signal Ensign. Upon receiving 
my discharge, I re-entered the service of the Hanover National 
Bank. 

[ 28 ] 




R. S. BECKHORN 



R. D. BENSON 




ALEXANDER BISSETT 



CHARLES BOBEL 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

JOHN H. BARNETT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., November 4, 1888. 
Attended Public Schools of Brooklyn. 



B 



'EFORE entering the employ of the Hanover National Bank 
I was with C. H. Reynolds & Sons, coal merchants of Brooklyn. 
I entered the service of the Hanover National Bank in September, 
1917, and joined the Colors in July, 1918. Upon my arrival at 
Camp Upton I was assigned to the 12th Company Depot Brigade 
and was later transferred to the 433rd Motor Ambulance Corps, 
assigned as stretcher bearer with this Company, certified for 
overseas duty. These instructions being cancelled later, I was 
transferred to Company D, Medical Detachment at the Base 
Hospital. Again certified for overseas duty but held up on 
account of quarantine during the epidemic of influenza. I had 
no opportunity for active service, my entire time of enlistment 
being on duty at Camp Upton. 



RALPH S. BECKHORN 
Born at Hornell, N. Y., June 17, 1895. 



Wi 



HEN I was six years of age we moved to Hoboken, N. J. 
My education was completed in the Elementary and High Schools 
of that city, and in 1914 moved to Newark, N. J. I then started 
my training for financial work in New York University. How- 
ever, up to the time I entered the Military Service this had not 
been completed. 

On June 5, 1917, I registered under provisions of the Selective 
Service Act, and on September 19 entered the U. S. Army at 
Camp Dix, being assigned to the 13th Company, 4th Training 
Battalion, 153rd Depot Brigade. My Infantry training con- 
sisted of about three months hard work, at the end of which time 
I was transferred to the Medical Department and ordered to pro- 

[ 29 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

ceed to Fort Jay to join the Division of Finance and Accounting 
which was then making ready for service overseas. 

On December 10, 1917, I was promoted to the grade of Ser- 
geant and on January 3 sailed for France. On arriving in 
France I was transferred to the Office of the Purchasing Agent 
in Paris, where I remained for eight months. During this stay 
a good part of my spare time was taken up in refugee work and 
volunteer help in the Hospitals during the big drives. While in 
Paris all soldiers were given serial numbers ; mine was 15328. 

On September 8, 1919, I was ordered to pi'oceed to Headquar- 
ters S. O. S. for duty in the Chief Surgeon's Office, and on 
December 1, 1918, was promoted to the grade of Sergeant. 
On May 1st, 1919, 1 was again promoted to the grade of Hospital 
Sergeant. 

Although I never got to the front, I formed an opinion that 
the French were the best fighters, barring none, partly because 
they were fighting for existence. Even at the time the Germans 
were so near Paris in 1917, the French never gave up hope, and I 
firmly believe that had the Germans taken the city, it would have 
tended only toward prolonging the war. 

Land was cultivated by the old men and women. I have often 
seen a woman plowing, and it was not uncommon to see a horse 
and little donkey side by side in the fields. Dogs were used to a 
great extent on the farms for light work. 

During my eighteen months' stay in France, I was given seven 
days leave and visited Aix-les-Bains, one of France's famous 
watering places in the French Alps. 

On June 17, 1919, I was informed that I was to return to the 
States with a casual detachment which was to leave July 1. I ar- 
rived in Brest on July 2, and sailed from that port July 7 on the 
Imperator. I arrived in Hoboken on July 13, and was discharged 
from the Service on July 21, 1919. 



[ 30 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANE 

RICHARD DEWEY BENSEN 

Born at Highzvood Park, Weehawhen, N. J., March 20, 1898. 
Attended Hamilton School of Weehawken; also Eagan's School 
of Business. 



I 



WAS named after the late Admiral Dewej^ of the U. S. Navj. 
I enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force on August 8, 1918, 
for a period of four years, and was called to duty at the U. S. 
Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois on Speteraber 14, 
1918. While at the Great Lakes Station I served on the Fourth 
Liberty Loan Committee, which raised a total of $5,000,000, be- 
ing almost double its quota. 

On March 8, 1919, I was transferred to the Receiving Ship at 
New York, and later to the Fleet Supply Base at South Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

On May 9, 1919, 1 was released from active duty and re-entered 
the employ of the Hanover National Bank. 



ALEXANDER BISSETT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., August 15, 1890. 

Attended Public School No. 25 and Brooklyn Evening High 
School. 



A 



FTER a varied business experience, I eventually entered the 
employ of the Hanover National Bank, during the latter part 
of 1916. At the outbreak of the World War the 13th Regi- 
ment Coast Artillery Corps National Guard, New York (of which 
I had been a member since June 1, 1916), was mustered into 
federal service on August 15, 1917. I went through the process 
of the making of a soldier at Fort Wadsworth, N. Y., one of 
the important fortresses guarding the approach to New York 
harbor. On June 3, 1917, I was transferred to Battery B, 70th 

[ 31 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps with a number of my comrades. 
I embarked on the United States Army Transport Steamship 
The Great Northern on July 15, 1917, our destination unknown 
to any of us. Rumors as usual were flying thickly as to our port 
of debarkation, but on the evening of the 22nd I had my first 
glimpse of France. The harbor of Brest looked very picturesque 
to me with very hilly country on either side of us. After land- 
ing, several comrades and myself were assigned to a section 
terrene, which was inclined to be very muddy, in fact it was a 
veritable mudhole. Anticipating an early departure we did not 
bother about unrolling our equipment, and we were ordered to 
place our equipment in a pile and lie down and try to sleep. 
After lying down for several hours, we had our first experience 
of a French rain storm. One week later we were shipped in 
the immortal "Forty and Eight" and the consignment took four 
days to reach a point called Fenn, a small French village with 
a population of about one thousand inhabitants. It was very 
interesting to observe the picturesque buildings and the quaint 
and old-fashioned mode of living and transportation. The 
French peasantry class of people live in thatched houses with stone 
floors and large open fireplaces ; nevertheless they seemed to be 
enjoying the hardships under which they were laboring, despite 
war conditions. The French horses that pull the two-wheel carts 
used throughout France appealed to me as a wonderful specimen 
of animals. Good water was at a premium ; in fact, any water was 
very scarce. We had many long marches and were rationed to 
only one canteen to a man a day, which was not quite a quart, 
and had to be used for washing and drinking purposes. Time 
went on until finally on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the 
eleventh month the long looked for Armistice was signed and to 
say we were overjoyed would be putting it mildly. I was un- 
fortunate enough to meet with an accident which confined me to 
a hospital for about five months. On the 21st of Marcli, 1919, 
I sailed for "God's Country" and wildly greeted "Miss Liberty" 
on the morning of the 27th, while being escorted through New 
York harbor by a boat containing the New York City Committee 
of Welcome, and proceeded at once to Camp Mills Base Hospital 

[ 32 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

and eventually transferred, a week later, to Base Hospital at 
Camp Upton, N. Y. 

I was discharged on June 3, 1919, and very glad to get back 
to the uniform of a civilian. 



CHARLES BOBEL 

Born at Union Hill, N. J., January 8, 1895. 
Attended Union Hill Public Schools. 

IVXY FIRST business venture was in the employ of R. & H. 
Senior Company, where I remained for about eight years I 
then became one of the "Hanover" force until called into mili- 
tary service. April 4, 1918, I went to Camp Dix and on May 
23 sailed for France. At Camp Dix I was a member of Company 
A, 309th Infantry, serving with this detachment in France as 
a member of the Intelligence Section. Had some time to learn 
French, and soon could speak enough to order something to eat 
Was never wounded, although I had many close calls. Didn't es- 
cape the epidemic of Influenza from which I have completely 
recovered. I find that the fellow who smiles and tries to be 
happy, although deep down in his heart he longs for home, is 
the fellow who gets along. 



JAMES A. BOLTON 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., January 30, 1896. 
Attended Jamaica High School and Erasmus Hall 

-hlNLISTED in the United States Naval Reserve Force as 
Second Class Seaman, May 19, 1917. After waiting a few 
months, I was finally ordered to report for duty on August 17 
1917, at the Federal Rendezvous, 52nd Street, Brooklyn*' Here 
I spent about five weeks in training for what I thought would 
make me an unusually "salty sailor." Saturday, September 21, 

[ 33 J 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

1917, I was ordered to stand by for further orders. This gave 
me visions of ships, seas, submarines and everything but what 
my new berth would be. Instead of ships, etc., my orders read 
"Cable Censors' Office, 20 Broad Street, New York," where all 
that could be seen were pencils, paper and yeomanettes. Here 
I remained until my release from Service, which finally came on 
May 7, 1919. 

During my stay at 20 Broad Street my ratings were changed 
as follows: 

December 1, 1917 — to Second Class Yeoman 

May 1, 1918 — to First Class Yeoman 

August 1, 1918 — to Chief Petty Officer (Yeoman Branch) 
Nothing of importance happened here, as my work was en- 
tirely clerical. 



HENRY O. BORCHERT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., March 30, 1895. 

Attended Public School No. 57, Richmond Hill, N. Y.; New 
York Preparatory School, Brooklyn Branch {Evening 
Course) ; also Secretarial Course at the Euclid School, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

X RECEIVED my first business training as stenographer in 
the employ of a Railway Company, and after some experience 
there entered the service of the Hanover National Bank in 
October, 1917. On April 3, 1918, I left for Camp Upton. I 
was appointed Company Clerk of the 10th Company 3rd Pro- 
visional Battalion, later known as the 29th Company, 8th Bat- 
talion, 152nd Depot Brigade. My duties were to keep the 
Roster and all details incident thereto, known as "paper work." 
I was appointed Corporal on May 15, 1918, and made a Ser- 
geant October 1. My duties very largely precluded the usual 
experiences of a soldier in drilling, bayonet practice, etc. I 
attended the Camp Personnel School to prepare myself for the 
Personnel Adjutant School, Adjutant General Department, and 

[ 34 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

was working along there nicely when, at the time the Armistice 
was signed, I was about to be transferred to Ohio to enter this 
School. The termination of hostilities prevented this, and I 
was honorably discharged December 16, 1918, re-entering the 
employ of the Hanover National Bank. 



CECIL MARRYAT BOYCOTT 

Born at New York, N. Y., September 28, 1896. 
Attended Central High School, Newark, N. J.; Colgate Univer- 
sity. 



Wi 



HEN the United States entered the War I was in my Sopho- 
more year at college, and applied for admission in the Reserve 
Officers' Training Camp at Plattsburg, but was refused on ac- 
count of being under age. However, I was permitted to take the 
examinations for a provisional commission in the Regular Army, 
it being understood that I would not be commissioned until I 
reached tM^enty-one. After passing these examinations, I was 
with the Hanover National Bank, and was ordered to report to 
Fort Leavenworth for training early in 1918. I was commissioned 
Second Lieutenant in the Reserve February 25, 1918; assigned 
to Second Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont ; and soon after- 
wards was ordered to France. I received my commission as 
Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army May 1, and was pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant June 9. I served as Censor and Bil- 
leting Officer for Corps Headquarters. 

In one of Mr. Boycott's letters home, he writes as follows : 
"On March 22, 1918, I left New York on the Martha Washing- 
ton. We had a good trip over, in spite of the fact that I was sick 
all the way. When we were very close to Bordeaux, we were at- 
tacked by a school of submarines and had a running fight for an 
hour and a half. We are supposed to have sunk three. We 
landed at Pauillac, a little town near Bordeaux. This was April 
6. After sitting on the roadside all day, we went to Bordeaux on 
little cars and got there late that night. We went to Camp Geni- 
cart ; there we stayed for three days, and then we went to Bade- 

[ 35 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

menil, a little town near Baccarat, Meurthe et Moselle. The trip 
was through the heart of France and very pretty, but very tiring 
— four days in a little car. We were at Bademenil for three 
weeks, when I was taken sick with the "Flu." I was then in the 
hospital for three weeks at Baccarat. I really had a good time 
there. In the meantime the Regiment moved to Le Valdahon near 
Besan9on, Dombs. We were there for some time. I spend all 
June working on the horses in the day time and riding a different 
horse out to supper every night ; I really had a fine time there. 
After the first attack at Chateau Thierry, there was a dire need 
of officers at the front. All the outfits in the S. O. S. were scanned 
for officers. I, among others, was sent up as a combat officer. 
When I started out, the Corps Headquarters were at Neufcha- 
teau. When I got there, they had moved to La Ferte-sous-Jou- 
orre. This necessitated a trip to Paris. I had quite a time there. 
When I got out to Corps Headquarters, I was kept there in the 
Headquarters Troop. After a few weeks' duty with the Troop, 
I was made billeting officer. There my troubles started. From 
La Ferte we went to Montreuil-aux-Lions ; thence to Chateau 
Thierry ; from there to Villeneuvc ; then to Fere-en-Tardenois ; 
then back to La Ferte; then to Doulevant-le-Chateau, Haute 
Marne ; then to Liverdun, Meurthe et Moselle ; then to Saizerais ; 
then to Rarecourt, Meuse. Then my troubles started again, 
when I was placed in command of the advance P. C. at Hill 209, 
just north of Clermont-en-Argonne. From there we went to 
Chehery and from there to Harricourt. From Harricourt we 
went back to Chehery, and now we are back in the S. O. S. at 
Tonnerre. 

"It was at Harricourt that I had my worst bombing. We got 
particular hell there. I would precede the corps and locate the 
headquarters. I was there by myself when the birds came over. 
Believe me, I'd rather be shelled all day than be bombed for a 
minute. It surely is a great sensation. 

"It was a great sight the night the Armistice was declared: 
lights and fires, the first that I had seen in France. It was too 
big to realize. Now we hope to come home soon, but we don't 
know what they are going to do with us." 

[ 36 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

E. G. BROWER-BILLINGTON 

Born at Bergen, Jersey City, N. J., July 28, 1889. 
Attended Grammer School. 



E 



NLISTED July 23, 1917, as Private in 1st Field Company, 
Signal Corps, National Guard, State of New Jersey. Assigned 
to Company A, known as the Radio Company. 

September, 1917, the 1st Field Company, S. C, N. G., N. J., 
was renamed the 104th Field Signal Battalion and assigned to 
the newly formed 29th Division, made up of National Guard units 
from New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Appointed 
Corporal, Sig. Cps, January 11, 1918, per BnS. O. No. 17, and 
transferred from Company A to Headquarters Detachment, on 
same order and same date, at Camp McClellan, Ala. Ap- 
pointed Sergeant, Sig, Cps. May 1, 1918, per Bns. O. No. 79, 
dated April 29, 1918, effective May 1, 1918, at Camp McClellan, 
Ala. Appointed Color Sergeant, Sig. Cps. November 7, 1918, 
of the 101th Field Signal Battalion, per BnS. O. No. 13a, at 
Robert-Espagne, France. 



Pursuant to the President's call, I reported at the Company 
rendezvous at Bergen, Jersey City, N. J., on the morning of July 
24, 1917, when orders were read for our Signal Corps to proceed 
to Sea Girt, N. J., on July 25, 1917, for mobilization of our 
National Guard units. All day and evening of July 24 was spent 
in packing our saddles, saddle bags, harness, signal equipment. 
Ordnance and Quartermaster stores, which were, during the night 
and early morning of July 25, packed on the troop trains await- 
ing our embarkation. At 5 :30 a. m. on July 25, rollcall was 
sounded, and then, in Signal Corps formation, we marched away 
for the trains, passing in review before the City Hall. 

At noon of this day we arrived at Sea Girt, N. J., our destina- 
tion, and the unloading of troop cars, kitchens put up, tents 
erected, and check on all our belongings made. My first taste of 
Kitchen Police was experienced this day, and at 4 p. m. our first 
Army mess served. That night a well earned sleep rewarded the 

[ 37 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

boys, even though blanket snatching and cold water awakenings 
were the order of the day. The 26th of July was spent in 
making the camp look somewhat orderly and assigning the men 
to squads for each tent, where a non-commissioned officer was put 
in charge. The 27th of July, 1917, will be remembered by all for 
it was the day when, after rollcall, all of us marched to the main 
building and were sworn into the Federal Service to make room for 
the drafting of the National Army. The following morning our 
life in the Army began with the squad drills, military courtesy, 
company formations, etc., according to the new Drill Regulations 
issued by the War Department at this time. 

The Signal Corps now consisted of the following: Co. A, or 
Radio Company, 75 men ; B Co. or Wire Company in Washington, 
D. C, 75 men ; Company C, or Outpost Company, 75 men ; Head- 
quarters Detachment, 15 men; Supply Detachment, 12 men; 
and Sanitary Detachment, 14t men and 6 officers. 

In September, 1917, the Outpost Company was increased to 
280 men; Hdqrs. Det. reduced to 13 men; and Supply Detachment 
increased to 16 men. 

The officers were as follows: one Captain, two 1st Lieutenants 
to Co. A ; the same to Co. B ; one Captain and four Lieutenants 
to Company C ; with one Captain to the Sanitary Detachment ; 
one 1st Lieutenant to Supply Detachment; one 1st Lieutenant to 
Headquarters Detachment and one Major to Command the Bat- 
talion, with a Chaplain sent to us later on; 1st Lieutenant of 
Hdqrs. Det. acted alwaj^s as adjutant. 

We stayed at Sea Girt, N. J., from July 25, 1917, to Sep- 
tember 22, 1917, during which time the use and operating of 
Signal Corps equipment such as wireless, heliograph, wig-wag, 
semaphore, buzzer phones, and telegraphy were studied in gen- 
eral to get familiarized with before operating for speed and 
accuracy. We also had our Signal Corps drills by squad, com- 
pany, and battalion, with Infantry drill added. The pistol range 
was also used at this place for bettering our marksmanship, 
each day a tally on scores being kept. My average was 91. 

On September 23, 1917, after all troop trains of our outfit had 
been loaded, we said farewell to our summer camp at Sea Girt, 

[ 38 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

N. J., and headed for Alabama, arriving at Camp McClellan, 
Ala. (then in name only), on the evening of September 25 
at 9 p. M. Our mascot, the Goat, and two white leghorn roosters, 
enjoyed the rail trip in the box car just as well as we did. A 
three mile hike to our location, with all our equipment on our 
backs, only to find a partly finished mess shack, and rain to greet 
us. What fellows could not get into the shack to sleep, found 
the outdoors just as comfortable, even though it rained for 
three days. When tents, equipment, shovels and picks arrived, 
we started our camp, with road-making, rain-drainage, and picket- 
line clearing, taking up our spare time until late in the day. 

October, 1917, found our Camp as well as the whole of Camp 
McClellan, assuming a real training area to accommodate at 
least 45,000 troops. During this month, Interior Guard Duty, 
Kitchen Police, Stable Dut}'^, and the art of Horse and Mule 
grooming was experienced by all, besides the knowledge and oper- 
ating of our Signal Equipment on hand. 

By November, 1917, the Signal Battalion was represented by 
473 men and 15 officers, with Major R. C. Cotton, R. A,, a gradu- 
ate of West Point, commanding. During this month the speed 
and skill of our men with the Signal Corps work was far beyond 
our expectations. During this month the first rumors that we 
were to go overseas were about camp, and the topic of the day 
naturally bent toward the time when we would start. 

December, 1917, in the first few weeks was spent in taking 
tests, each man by himself, as to the speed, accuracy, and receiv- 
ing of all messages by any one of the Signal equipments, after 
the morning class was finished. Christmas of this year was the 
first for us in the Army, and the turkey played its ever important 
part in the mess shack at our dinner. K. P. that day was not 
begrudged by any one. Christmas night with the tree lighted, 
we enjoyed the telling of stories, and the receiving of favors from 
the tree, which favors consisted of something representing the 
fault of the receiver. 

During this month. Major R. C. Cotton was relieved of duty 
with our battalion, and appointed Division Signal Officer, bring- 
ing Major B. Hazeltine, R. A., from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to 

[ 39 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

be Battalion Commander. Under this officer's guidance and in- 
structions, we became known as the best disciplined and expert 
operating Signal Corps in the United States. Our commenda- 
tion file proved it before leaving for France. In this month 
also, we changed our Cotton uniforms for the woolen outfit, and 
the horses increased in number as well as the mules, making life 
in the Army full of work, and sleep at a premium. Flash lan- 
terns were now being used in addition to our Signal equipment, 
with our first effort at school to study communication layouts 
for trenches and open warfare, code making and deciphering, 
and the beginning of evening school for non-commissioned officers. 
So when 1917 rang down the curtain to let 1918 in, we found the 
day's work consisted of the following: 5.15 a. m. first call; 
5.25 A. M. company formation; 5.30 a. m. reveille and roll call. 
After reveille we marched to the picket line and started our 
grooming of the horses and mules ; 6.00 a. m. water and feeding 
the horses and mules; 6.15 a. m. to breakfast; 6.30 a. m. the 
cleaning out of the tents and ground police; 7.30 a. m. first call 
for drill and 7.45 roll call: and then for drill, either infantry, 
Signal, or with the horses and mules, with body building exer- 
cises at each half hour, or hour, according to the drill schedule; 
12.00 noon, recall being sounded with mess served at once; 12.50 
first call for drill; and 1.00 p. m. again on the drill schedule for 
the afternoon until 4.30 p. m. when water call for horses and mules 
was sounded; 5.00 to 5.30 p. m. was allotted to the study of sani- 
tation and first aid to wounded; supper at 6.00 p. m. First call 
for evening school at 7.30 to 9.00 p. m., except Saturdays and 
Sundays. Between 9.00 and 9.45 p. m. was generally used for 
writing letters home, and at 10.00 p. m. Taps was sounded. After 
a day of this kind, it was never forgotten by some one to start a 
fire call at any hour, and if we did not answer to the rollcall 
at once, and could not give a sound excuse, a three day K. P. 
or confinement to camp was the result of missing fire call. Wlien 
fire drill is sounded, which is considered to be the nicest call by the 
bugle in the Army, one section of each Company is detailed 
as follows : shovel, pick, hose, salvage, and reserve with pails. 
January, 1918, was a cold month, and we still lived in tents, 

[ 40 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

though extra blankets were issued. An order was issued not 
to chop down trees, even though the little coal obtainable could 
not be had for the tiny silby stoves in each tent. Rain was 
always present during this month. Still our Signal work and 
training went on. Our first contingent left for France this month 
on the quiet. 

February, 1918, was even colder with the thermometer show- 
ing every now and then a drop to three to six below zero. Our 
training with pack mules was also added to the list of duties, with 
hikes to diiFerent places in Alabama with the Infantry. Our 
outfit was the example for other units to follow in discipline, 
training and methods, and the pride of the Commanding General 
of the Division, Major General Charles G. Morton, R. A. It 
was in this month that insurance was laid before the men of our 
Division, and later we learned that the average age of the Divi- 
sion was 19 years. Our Signal training was gaining every day 
and we were feeding better. 

In March, 1918, we were introduced to a French lieutenant 
and sergeant, who came from France after serving two years 
and six months in the French Army, to instruct us just what was 
what in the Battlefields of France. The French sergeant was 
billeted with us in our tent and many an evening just before 
Taps an exchange of stories was heard through our interpreter. 
We now had the French T. P. S. sets to work with either by night 
or day, and the first sight of our carrier pigeon loft came. 
Trench work and hikes with maneuvers of the entire division were 
scheduled every now and then, as we were up to the mark for 
combat troops. 

April, 1918, and some more of our boys slipped away to France 
on the quiet. Our first batch of carrier pigeons arrived and 
our training with them began. They showed remarkable instinct 
after a seven day confinement to find their way around the Camp. 
A card indexing of the birds by name and number, was made, on 
which everything that happened to each particular bird was 
noted, such as time of flights, length of sickness and cause, 
mating, style of head, breast and wing expansion, color of bird, 
and behavior. Gradually the distance of each flight was increased 

[ 41 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

until our first birds could be released with a message at a distance 
of at least 25 miles. The message is placed in a capsule, then 
attached to the leg of the bird, and the time taken down by the 
one who releases the bird. When the bird arrives at the cote, 
the time is not taken until it goes through the trap. The reason 
for this is that all the birds are not fed on the ground, only in 
the cote, and when the birds are to be taken away to a certain 
place to be released, they are always fed at least a few hours 
before, thereby making the bird hungry enough to speed his 
way back to the cote, where food is spread around inside the 
trap, forcing the bird to come into it, and the message is then 
detached and sent to the person, or department, it is addressed 
to, the message always being in code. When Verdun in 1916 was 
the point through which the crown prince of Germany tried 
to force his way with his Hun hordes to get to Paris, the fighting 
was so fierce and the artillery bombardment so heavy, the only 
thing left for the French to use in the way of communication was 
the carrier pigeon, and the birds were used continually during the 
time of the lengthy fight, thereby saving Verdun and upholding 
the French general's command, "On ne passe pas" (they shall not 
pass). 

May, 1918, and a few more outfits left for France on the quiet. 
This month gave us a chance to get recruits to fill in the gaps 
in our ranks, which many of us had made vacant, going to officers' 
training school, and transfers after our strict physical discipline, 
Signal work, inspections and after battalion promotions of non- 
commissioned officers. 

In the early part of June, 1918, we were inspected by a War 
Department Inspector from Washington, D. C, and after loading 
our troop trains in Camp, we entrained on the morning of June 
13, leaving this camp with fond memories and our direction 
pointed to France. We arrived at Jersey City, N. J., at the 
Central R. R. Depot on Sunday morning of June 16 after a 
stop-over of nearly twelve hours at Floral Park, Md. We had 
just a short spare moment to say hello and good-by to a few of 
our friends who somehow or other received word of our arrival 
there, and the ferryboat took us to Hoboken, where, after a 

[ 42 ] 




J. A. BOLTON 



HEXRY O. BORCHERT 




CECIL M. BOYCOTT 



E. G. BROWER-BILLINGTON 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

check off of our names as we passed on board the U. S. S. Great 
Northern, we were assigned to bunks in this ship. We stayed 
below decks the rest of Sunday, all Monday and Tuesday, and 
after the ship had sailed Wednesday about noon and had gone 
beyond the three mile limit of the U. S. A., we were allowed to 
come up for air. A worthy sight indeed, for a convoy of de- 
stroyers guarded us until late that night. The U. S. S. Great 
Northern was the fastest boat in the service as a troopship and 
all the way across the sister ship Northern Pacific kept pace with 
us. The rules on board ship were for safety and quick obedience 
to orders. We had no guard across as our boat and the sister 
ship were speedy. So, leaving on June 19, we looked for- 
ward for excitement as each day drew us nearer to the danger 
zone on the other side. Helmets and badly needed clothing were 
issued to all while on board ship going over. My first experience 
with "submarine sighted" calls was on this boat, even at mess 
times. We arrived at Brest, France, on June 26, at seven p. m. 
and debarked from the ship on the morning of the 27th. This 
date was the official date for the 29th Division to arrive in France. 
We marched to Pontanezen Barracks, just outside of Brest, 
this place being the old edifice where Napoleon had his armies, it 
was walled in and the type of the old fort in years gone by. A 
few days rest here with curiosity in all of us as to the kind of 
country and people. Our first lessons in French at Camp 
McClellan, Ala., stood us in good stead and we made a few pur- 
chases now and then, even though we mixed U. S. and French talk 
together. Our ship which we left now, went back to the U. S. A. 
with our letters. In this place we stayed until the orders 
reached us to embark on the famous French cars, which 
will always be remembered by the eight men to a compartment. 
Our trains packed and we were oif , having been rationed with corn 
willie, canned tomatoes, hard tack, and bread of large size loaves, 
canned salmon, and jam proportioned among us. Three days 
of this sort of travel, with hardly any comfortable sleep at any 
time, and passing through big towns of France, we arrived at 
midnight at a place of which nobody knew or ever heard. At 
five A. M. of the morning of July 6 we formed the battalion now 

[ 43 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

complete and marched up to the town. The town of Montsaugeon 
in Haute Marne Province. Billeting of tlie boys was immediately 
taken care of and our ration truck went early to Veaux-sous- 
Aubigny where they procured some fresh meat. During this 
time we had roUcall, and found that we had lost two or three 
men from our trains, who had been sent to the hospitals along the 
line from Brest for one cause or another. After the kitchen was 
ready to serve us, and mess call sounded, it was with some joy 
that we had at last arrived and to get a real appetizing meal. Dur- 
ing our stay here, equipment, clothing, etc., was gone over and 
good replaced for worn-out material. Later we received orders 
to discard everything but the following: Helmet, gas-mask, over- 
seas cap, one blouse, one breeches, two shirts, two suits of under- 
wear, four pairs of socks, wrap leggings, two pairs of field shoes, 
pistol belt, holster and pistol with two extra chambers, haver- 
sack and pack carrier, razor, soap, toothbrush, paste, comb, 
mirror, towel and two blankets. Everything else that was per- 
sonal property was packed by each one in his barrack bag and 
sent to Champlitte and then to Gievres for storage. 

We now received word to proceed to Vaux-sous-Aubigny and 
embarked on those famous "quarante homme, huite chevaux," 
French box cars (40 men, 8 horses) of which every man in France 
has had a taste. An all night long ride brought us to Belfort, 
known as the Lion of the North for its strong resistance against 
the Germans in the early part of the war. We were now in what is 
called the Alsatian front. A march after debarkation here 
brought us to Vourvenans where we stayed a short while. It 
was here we saw the first boche planes on scout duty away up in 
the sky and the bursting shells of the anti-air guns trying to 
bring them down. A few days of training while waiting 
for orders gave us a chance to see many things which war 
brings, even far back of the lines. Orders received and we marched 
to Brebotte, where a short stay gave us the first feeling of 
being in a quiet but eventful sector back of the lines. After 
orders received to push forward, we arrived at Montreux-Vieux 
where most of the inhabitants were generally known as partly 
German. Our next move brought us into the line officially on 

[ 44 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

July 25, 1918, in what is called the Defense of Center Sector, 
Haute- Alsace ; our outpost company, four sections, going to the 
four different regiments of our division known as the 113th, 
114th, 115th, 116th Infantr}'. Co. B section out to lay wire 
between Battalion, Brigade and Regimental Headquarters up to 
Divisional Headquarters, Co. A with their operators stationed here 
and there in different zones with their wireless working always be- 
tween points and then direct to Divisional Headquarters. Notable 
among the towns in which we were stationed were Dannemarie, 
Buethwiller, Manspach, Montreux-Chateau and Montreux- 
Jeunne. Every time a unit or detachment of our division reached 
a certain place, word came in code immediately as to the place, 
result, and what observation was made. On July 26, the Germans 
gave us a welcome with raiding parties at night, and bomb drop- 
ping by aeroplanes. It is always the custom on either side, 
when an outfit is relieved and the new outfit comes into the trench, 
to serenade, and it is done with all kinds of tricks and war 
material, gassing being one of Germany's old methods at any time 
the chance affords itself day or night. Our experiences were 
many in the first few days and hardly any sleep of more than 
slight duration given to any one as the boche usually got wind 
of an outfit relieving or advancing to take over a section. All 
night the sector was enlivened with small raids to ascertain who 
we were and what was our design. At daybreak of the morning 
of July 27, we spied a sign on the German front line trenches, 
viz : Good Morning 29th Division, showing what a system of 
finding out things the Germans had, their methods were as 
methodical as possible, which we chaps learned later on. Besides 
getting up rations, water and ammunition to the fellows ahead, 
it always brought the balance of the scales back to the rear with 
wounded, gassed, and down and out from exposure. The 
enemy aeroplanes were busy as bees most of the day but as lively 
as kittens at night, especially if fate allowed a clear night to be 
marked on the calendar. Up to and including the last day of 
July of this year the planes on both sides were doing scout duty, 
but the first clear night in August and we were bombed good and 
proper at a small town, and then two hours after, the German 

[ 45 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

long range guns played havoc with what was left of the place. 
The Signal Corps stations in the front and all the way back to 
the rear had to move quickly or suffer the consequences, even the 
Divisional Headquarters doing the same after a boche scout 
plane liad dropped its tell-tale flare rockets of white and red. 
The red was the signal to fire and each flare meant so many 
miles by the German plane's distance covered direct from its 
starting point added to the knowledge the Germans had of the 
different towns and their distance from the German lines on maps. 
All of August was our chance to move forward, using the best 
means of Signal Corps communications, with casualties coming 
every day. This sector was always known as the sniping sector, 
for it was mountainous and easy to spot an object at a consider- 
able distance. Raiding parties at night were a feature which 
meant quickness, a level head, and a burial party if a flare rocket 
burst over you. Going out on a raiding party, your rifle or 
pistol and a pouch full of grenades were always your stand-by, 
with your corporal or sergeant giving the word by hand signal 
what was what to do and not to do. A favorite trick on the 
Yankee side was to string empty ration cans, such as tomato, 
corn willie, salmon, etc., along the wire and string it out before 
the bobwire entanglements, for just as soon as a chap stepped 
too near it, or moved any part of the string laid along the ground, 
the whole line jingled, which meant a flare rocket and the machine 
guns talking. Our observers in the aeroplanes had by the end of 
August a nice complete set of affairs made of their observations, 
and then the word went forward for no more guerrilla warfare but 
a push was to be made. It opened up on September 2, with the 
Train Artillery of the French trying for Mulhouse, and the rest of 
the artillery of small sizes doing their bit by trying to lay the way 
open for the infantry to advance. For the first few days all went 
fairly well with us, until the Germans were able to make a line 
of defense and then we got a taste of music, which brought up the 
ambulances, stretcher bearers, and medical force to its limit. 
It was not only to advance that we had to contend with, but to 
hold on to every bit of ground we captured that made the men 
forget sleep, rations and clothing. A look at ourselves the second 

[ 46 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

day forbids me to describe what a dressed up fellow a tramp was 
compared to our appearance, but we got what we went after, even 
though casualties were some, and then a twenty-four-hour respite, 
before the relief came up under cover of darkness. One could 
never describe the way this war was staged for it was incessant 
firing day and night, with surprises at any place along the line 
from the North Sea to Switzerland, and it might be yours for 
a week when you least expect it. I often thought of the Italian 
front compared to this. It is reasonable to figure that 
you are fighting with all your strength to get the other fellow 
by the rifle, or bayonet, or pistol, etc., but when the enemy sends 
over in a sneaky way, mustard-gas and then opens up with high 
explosive shells and shrapnel, one thinks his time has come at 
last, for it gets a good many chaps trying to put on their 
gas-masks, if not already gassed, and that is why our training 
to put on gas-masks in five seconds was kept up until we could 
do it in a fraction less. Quick work it was, but a life saver. A 
fall into a shell hole and you did your best to get out of it 
to keep up with your bunkies. Where your pack went you could 
never figure out, or what happened to your two days' rations 
you never did know, but your next shave would either happen 
after the drive or on the Golden Shore. Behind the mud, dirt, 
and what was left of us, we could see Van Dykes, mutton chops, 
and even full beards in bloom, by September 15, when we had a 
relief for twenty-four hours in which to get supplied with a little 
clothing if possible, rations if by chance, and a real full canteen 
of water, with which to satisfy a long felt want of a long drink 
which never seemed to come to you. After a rest under some 
camouflage and a few instructions for the coming morning, every- 
body tried to get word of somebody else, but under restrictions 
lest you give some information away to a possible spy in your 
outfit who made use of a dead soldier's uniform which he got under 
cover of darkness or prisoner. This respite gave the opportunity 
for me to sum up my possible chances of getting out alive (as is 
the case with everybody) before our division was to be taken out of 
the line for the rest area. I found, on summing up the chances, 
that they were just as scanty as the ones I summed up before en- 

[ 47 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

tering the line. Times seemed changed or I changed, I could not 
take time to figure out ; but my thought in one thing was, the 
thing that is coming my way will hit me, I will never know of it 
until I am hit. Toward dark the passing of orders was carried 
forward and everybody ready, or to be ready, to relieve the unit 
ahead before daybreak, which meant any time from 11 p. m. that 
night to 4.30 next morn. Rations were finally had, a few clothes 
received by some of us, brought up by chaps who came through 
for the purpose of salvaging, and when I spied a fellow eating 
a hard doughnut, both of us were bunkies in the shake of a 
lamb's tail. Early next morning, being the 16th, we were going 
forward at four a. m. with orders to cling to the slope opposite 
the French division on our left, for observation purposes, when 
some spirited battery of artillery let loose with a barrage 
and the Germans came back with their own, giving us a 
fine chance for kingdom come or the hospital. How we 
got through was a miracle to me, or the German shells 
must have been poorly made, anyway before daybreak every 
one of the signal boys was at his post. Nothing happened 
until noon, but before that time a few pails of stew, a few 
days old finally got to us by runners who volunteered to get it, 
and believe me, etiquette lost its ruling, for everybody who had 
the possible chance to get some went to it like a house afire. At 
noon the German battery sent over some shells for a feeler, and 
then opened up with a barrage to stop the incoming troops 
further back, during which time one of our boys who was operat- 
ing a buzzer phone, yelled for attention, and right before us 
in the mist were about four boche, coming over in a makeup sort 
of affair on "inquiring duty." A few signals to the doughboys 
a few hundred feet ahead of us in a "sap head" and the fun 
was one sided. I think one boche got away by playing dead, 
anyway later when the fog lifted some we could see only three 
in No Man's Land. 

Three days went by sort of quiet for the infantry, except at 
night when raiding parties or single parties would take the 
opportunity of trying to get a few prisoners for information. 
The evening of the 19th and 20th I will always remember. The 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

raiding parties were made larger and two of my bunkies volun- 
teered to go with them, laying wires (fine field wire from breast 
reels) as they went forward, sending information back as to 
what was seen or heard of the enemy. The evening of the 20th 
at about ten p. m., about forty chaps started over No Man's 
Land, zigzagging some to avoid the possible chance of running 
into a German range of machine guns already located during 
the day previous. The boys were to be back at eleven p. m. at the 
latest, and in case of a rush from the Germans, one of my bunkies 
was to give the signal agreed on by the buzzer-phone. The 
International code was always used, but the message was coded 
to five letters or numbers, for a word. I was with a Corporal 
of ours who had charge of this station where the raiding went 
over, and after about twenty minutes, we began to get some news, 
thusly: "Bob-wire is electrocuted near low walls. By the canal, 
they have tin cans like ours strung along. Austrians are heard 
talking, to the French left. One of our chaps going back with a 
wounded German prisoner, found in a shell hole. A sap-head in 
front of the range of the two low mounds, is used for pigeons, just 
heard them. A dark moving mass to our left going out some- 
where." Nothing more was heard for some minutes when up 
goes a star shell and in a few seconds the machine guns of the 
Germans let loose. The buzzer-phone was working and still no 
word. A few minutes more and the word came to us to be on 
our guard as the Germans had seen them and were trying to cut 
them off by shooting ahead of them. Meantime a bunch of the 
Germans were out after them, spreading out. Immediately word 
was given to the Sergeant in charge of the home station to send 
out a help party, and then the raiding battle began in earnest. 
As soon as the firing began on both sides, both raiding parties 
dropped in shell holes, or flat on the ground, star shells went up 
and nearly three hours went by before it finally settled down 
to sniping again. One by one the fellows came through our barb 
wire crawling along, or using an elevation of the ground to run 
low. One fellow missing, but he turned up the next night, having 
fallen in a shell hole, and stayed there until he could get his 
bearings. He had lots to say of the four or five Germans who 

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SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

were wounded and carried back to their lines by their own men. 
No prisoners, no casualties, no real information, but it nearly 
led to a big battle, which I learned later from the artillery fellows, 
and a chief gunner who received orders to be ready at any time for 
the word to fire. Our sap-head was full of water and mud and the 
rats were again plentiful. One rat was nicknamed "Noisy" for 
his continual squealing. The morning of the 22nd and our signal 
planes went up, which meant some sort of maneuvering, everybody 
trying to bet what it would be. Codes were short and every signal 
station was notified to be on the watch for a move. Was it ours, 
or a German move? Anyway, that evening, just after dark, the 
first of the relieving division came forward, and they were the 
"Blue Devils" of the French Army, with the 77th U. S. Division 
in reserve. I guessed right that we would be out of the 
lines or nearly so by the next night. Every man was using 
his last physical strength to hurry to the rear about 11 p. m. 
whether in bunches of four or ten, or singly, until he reached 
his station agreed upon that evening by code. Here he found 
some of his bunkies from different stations along the line, dough- 
boys, artillerymen, signal men, and at last a fine pot of hot 
stew and coffee. A few minutes passed and each corporal or ser- 
geant called the roll of his squad or section until he either ac- 
counted for them, or left their names with some of the other non- 
commissioned officers who were waiting for their men, and then a 
truck would come up the badly bent road under camouflage and 
whatever bunch was ready would pile in for a race to the rear 
about twenty miles, where the non-commissioned officer handed over 
his relief order, signed by the relieving outfit commander near the 
third line trenches or posts of the rear. A short while before mid- 
night and our relief showed up, and we piled in for a ride 
to what we thought would be a rest area in a few days, but 
not so by any means. The morning of the 23rd found us 
in Montreux-Vieux and after many greetings to each other 
we rested waiting for the word to move on to Montreux- 
Chateau which we did about eight p. m. officially. In this 
town we put up our Battalion Headquarters and found a few 
low barracks outside the town toward Petit-Croix. All went 

C 50 ] 



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well until about eleven p. m. when news reached us that a 
few companies of the 113th Infantry had taken over some 
small low barracks camouflaged near the station. A short 
while after that when everybody was trying to get some sleep 
in the hurry-up fashion, the first sound we heard was the far 
distant rumble of the German long range train artillery, and in 
a few seconds the screech of the shell, and right in the town it 
dropped. Now they were coming fast, one to the minute, and 
on the minute. The farewell greeting to our division by the enemy. 
One shell dropped into the garden back of the Battalion head- 
quarters and blew the whole affair out of existence. The next 
one took the corner off a large warehouse near the station and the 
next shell dropped into the low barracks of Co. L, 113th In- 
fantry, killing seven chaps outright, and putting about thirty odd 
into the hospital at once nearby. Things were lively now, and the 
different sections under orders to move out to the hill back of 
the town and to keep moving, with no bunching of men allowed. 
Shells from the enemy dropped all over the town, and between 
caring for the wounded and getting what French women there 
were left in the town into the caves or dugouts, those who were 
still available for duty had their hands full getting order out 
of a near-chaos on account of the one town road. About two 
p. M. things let up and we were able to get back to our 
places for some sleep and eats. During this bombardment 
of Montreux-Chateau, our signal Medical officer and a French 
lady were mentioned for their untiring efforts to aid the wounded 
of all kinds. The next morning the French populace placed 
some wreaths of flowers on the seven chaps who were killed and on 
one chap who died of his wounds. Shortly after this the burial 
squad did the burial honors. The morning of the 24th was 
so spent, and also packing for a move to the other side of 
the town toward the river. After six p. m. trucks were loaded 
and we went to our new place, billeting in barns, etc., with 
Battalion Headquarters in the town hall. After straightening 
out things a bit, and supplies on hand, we thought of the night 
before, with the result of a strong guard posted here and there 
about our side of the town. Toward midnight the sounds of 

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SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the boche plane and the barking of the French anti-aircraft guns 
brought all to their feet. A glance out into the night showed 
us that the German aviator had by a nervy trick followed a 
French plane through the darkness until an anti-aircraft crew 
spied him trailing along dropping a light here and there to 
see what was doing. This German aviator sure was a daring 
chap, for he guided his plane two or three times down the main 
street and just over the small house tops. This made the shoot- 
ing of the anti-aircraft guns almost worthless for if a shell 
exploded too near the houses it meant steel and shrapnel tearing 
through them, and possibly wounding and killing those who may 
have taken refuge in them. Finally after he seemed to get all 
the information he wanted, he started back for the German lines, 
popping his machine gun now and then at some convoy, pup- 
tents, or marching troops. The next day we had a chance to 
see what happened to Montreux-Chateau, and believe me, it 
was a miracle that the town was left. Our Signal Corps had no 
casualties. The night of the 25th we had a taste of some more 
aero attacks, but they were trying for the railroad station 
and yards. One house near the station lost its identity altogether 
after a shell hit it, and the horses of the headquarters troop were 
pretty well scattered on the other side of the tracks from their 
energies in breaking their halter pegs to move away from the 
shelling. 

Toward morning of the 26th we had a chance to get some 
more sleep, and nothing happened further this day, so we made 
up for lost time, carrying on of army affairs preparatory to 
moving again toward Crovanche, via Petit-Croix. That night 
our convoy started with troops to be followed by the convoy of 
supplies, ammunition wagons, and Signal Corps trucks. All 
went well for some of the troop convoys, but the Supply convoys 
received another taste of an aero attack from the Germans, 
making two of the Signal trucks stop still, and the boys getting 
out and under for some safety. The trucks when they arrived 
at last at Cravanche showed the machine gun bullet holes they 
had received from the enemy aeroplanes. This town we thought 
sure was our rest area, even though it was some unhealthy place to 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

be in, but to our surprise it was only a two day rest, during 
which time we witnessed the many air battles over Belfort forts. 
It also gave us time to recuperate and see what happened to 
the outfit while in the line, with a result of a percentage in 
the hospitals from being gassed, wounded, and from exposure, 
but not a death had been reported as yet from the Signal Corps, 
in the Defense of Center Sector, Haute-Alsace Campaign, from 
July 25 to September 23. Our Sergeant-Major, whom I bid a 
fond farewell at Montreux-Chateau on September 25, died of 
double pneumonia, but I did not hear of it until the month of 
December. A better buddie I never could have had, for what was 
his was mine, and vice versa. Later in the afternoon of 
September 28, we packed and entrained at a place near 
Belfort for somewhere in France — where, nobody knew. An 
all-night ride again in the famous "40 hommes and 8 che- 
vaux" box cars, through rain and cold, and early next 
morning, the 29th, we found ourselves at Nattancourt. Detrain- 
ing of troops and unloading of supplies and wagons and ammuni- 
tion was accomplished quickly as we learned it was a secret 
move, and to keep well under cover to avoid the enemy planes 
from observing any troops in this area. News was of a variety, 
but every one wanted to know where and what was next. An all 
day sleeping affair for everybody, for all were fatigued. That 
evening assembly called, and we marched ojff about seven p. m. the 
night clear and quiet. Our guide was well known to some of the 
non-coms, and it was understood that another twenty-two kilo- 
meter hike was again ahead of us, but to where? It sure was a 
dark night even though the overhead was very clear. Every 
fifty minutes of fast marching we had a ten minute respite and 
this kept up until sunrise, when we were looking at a town 
from the hills. If we passed that town there would hardly be 
an outfit left from the hai'd hiking. The town was called Conde, 
or Conde, as we called it, and when we were at last billeted, we 
found we had left some fellows along the route to be picked 
up by the ambulances, all in from the march and exposure to the 
cold. An all day rest, and late in the afternoon our rolling 
kitchens were ready to serve something hot. I not being a coffee 

[ 53 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

drinker, shaved with what I could get in my canteen cup. A 
bath was out of the question as yet. We were all cautioned 
against keeping out in the daylight, but this was unnecessary 
as we all beat it for our sleeping-quarters as soon as we had a 
chance to do so when our duties were done. Reports of all kinds 
were made early the next morning and we found we had a whole 
lot to get for our next move. Our Adjutant we had lost during 
the Haute- Alsace campaign and it was left to my bunkie (a 
sergeant) and myself to get things to order, even though we 
needed a mighty long wished for sleep. 

The following day we sent some more chaps to the hospital 
from exposure, and after getting an idea what was what in 
the needed requirements, made up our minds we were going to 
see something mighty soon. Early the next morning we had 
orders to move up and be in the reserve for the outfits ahead of 
us who were going to take the offensive. Three days and nights 
out in the cold, rain, mud, and hardly a chance to get rations, 
put about forty more men in the hospital from exposure. We 
learned later that two died before help could be given them. 
Our French convoys stayed by the road until the morning of 
October fourth, when on getting up from the ground only a few 
could be seen, and then all disappeared, which was taken for 
granted that our boys ahead in the last of the St. Mihiel drive 
had gotten through. We were ordered to again be on the move 
and passing through Conde late in the afternoon, we were guided 
on to St. Andre, through a blinding hail and snow storm, the 
march was at least fifteen kilometers. This march crippled a 
good many, and when St. Andre was reached we noticed how 
thin the ranks were in comparison to our standing outfit. 
Finally all who reached St. Andre fell into hay barns, or other 
places, and slept from weariness. Up to this time I had hardly 
any conception of what it meant to own a dry outfit, for I 
was always soaked to the skin. A sleep in a barn or lean-to 
would somewhat dry one's clothes but only to be soaked again 
when we stepped out for another march or rations. 

The night of October fifth we were again on the hike to Bler- 
court, through a dark miserable misty cold night. We arrived 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

at this town about two p. m. officially, and ascended the large 
hill to our barrack dugouts for further orders. A pretty fair 
night of sleep, with every now and then an aeroplane whirling 
overhead on scout duty. The sound of heavy firing, kept up 
incessantly, brought home the fact that the line was not far 
ahead. We were on the Paris-Metz highway, or what was left 
of it, and by early morn we could see the ammunition carts in 
convoys also supply convoys going up to the line full speed 
ahead, tractors with artillery taking the hard road by right. 
Toward noon of this day, another air battle started back of us, 
and with the result of two enemy planes crashing to the ground. 
This made six enemy planes which I had actually seen brought 
to the earth, since July, and two of our own planes and one 
balloon used for observation. All day we had something to 
look at from reserve positions, giving us an idea that we would 
soon be in it. Evening came and the mist cleared, with orders 
to move forward to Verdun, that historical town of this war, 
where the famous words "0« ne passe pas" (they shall not pass) 
were given by the French General when the crown prince of the 
German armies tried to get through on his way to Paris. Here 
it must be remembered the Germans lost in casualties about six 
hundred thousand men, and the French about four hundred 
thousand. We reached the fort by Verdun, and after passing 
through the big gate which showed all the signs of a bombard- 
ment, entered the north side of the town. It was like walking 
through an ancient city of old, for nobody had lived in it for 
two years, since the big bombardment, and not a house was 
left untouched from shells, either flattened to the ground or some 
peculiar part left standing. The place was quiet and sort of 
gave one a chill to be in it. Our march ended at the inside fort, 
and after creeping in we had a pretty fair living place. It could 
accommodate about twenty-five hundred men as I judged. All 
this time a continuous firing was heard and every minute or 
so high explosive shells dropped near us from the enemy's long 
range guns. Our mess sergeant finally got to us with rations 
and, believe me, I ate as I never ate before. The food was 

[ 55 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

excellent and I knew if it held out until the next arrived we 
would be in fine shape to go ahead and do our bit. 

The morning of the seventh after a somewhat never-ending 
night, we were making things busy in general to discard all 
our Battalion property to storage or bunking as it is known in 
the A. E. F., with efforts to economize for the necessities 
as required by tables of organization for combat troops to go 
in action. All day the firing was incessant, and the station in 
Glorieux near the cemetery was being shelled by the enemy in 
their methodical way of timing their shelling. 

The pigeon-cote in Verdun was doing its work as usual and 
the in-coming pigeons from the outfits in the lines told us that 
things were getting lively. After noon of this day the order was 
to go forward. Our four sections of the outpost Company were 
with their Infantry regiments, and only the Headquarters, 
Supply and Sanitary detachments of our Battalion were left 
to go forward to make Battalion Headquarters as planned, with 
the five sections of the Radio Company with their respective Regi- 
mental Divisional Headquarters, and the Wire Company out for 
duty to lay wire and operate between Battalion, Regimental 
and Division zones. This was the plan of communication to be 
used with this or that body or unit. The communication between 
units was made by use of T. P. S. sets, as far down as Divisional 
Headquarters. Any sort of communication failing from the 
front line to the next station, the next method was used, and 
when the word to go "over the top" was given, and the Battalion 
or unit ordered to go over failed to get communication through 
by any means, as a last resort the carrier pigeon was used. 
These birds with their wonderful instinct would bring any 
message for quick action to keep the line going forward to their 
cotes where the non-commissioned officer in charge would take 
off the capsule containing the message, open it, and send the 
message on by runner or dispatch carrier to the designated 
officer or headquarters. When a message of any kind was sent 
by any of the Signal systems, there was no answer to receive 
back, the message being always acted upon. Of all the systems 
used in this warfare, the carrier pigeon system had the duplicating 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

message only. It was made so in this way, when a bird was 
released with a message, it being the first message of its kind, 
a duplicate copy of the first message was enclosed with the first 
message the second bird carried, to make sure that the message 
so sent out first would get to the cote, if something happened to 
the bird carrying the original message. Kindness and attention 
to these birds in their cote, with a man who knew how to feed them 
right, to bring them back (all birds are sent forward to a place 
for release hungry enough to speed them back to their cotes), 
gave them the faith to fight every obstacle in their way to get 
home. 

Our only conveyance to our place for the night was in a French 
Army wagon, and after leaving the forts and the town of Verdun 
we went winding along the road or what was left of it behind 
camouflage. The road led us through Charny, then through 
Bras, and finally we arrived at Vacherauville and immediately 
got the necessary things to open up communication with all 
our division as far as possible. Meantime a hard problem of 
finding a dugout or shelter of any kind for Radio sets from shrap- 
nel and shell fire was confronted, but all somehow or other man- 
aged to get in somewhere away from the bursting shells to operate 
until orders were received to do this or that as your appointed 
thing was to be done. Our horses from the wagons were put 
singly in shell holes or under camouflage places for use of dis- 
patch bearers, the rations or other necessities cached, and we 
were then given what time was left to sleep, before the 
appointed time for the advance. The time set for the advance 
on the morning of October eighth was planned so that all the 
units relieved would be partly out of the way, our division to 
have a fairway to make a quick jump ahead. As we were 
all doing something or other, on our shifts at the nearing time 
of Advance, one chap or the other will never be able to describe 
the thundering that the cannons made when they all went 
off as agreed at the same time. We had seen this mass 
of guns on our way through the firing zone, carefully guarded 
from observation of enemy eyes, waiting for the word to belch 
forth, and as far back as the mighty big naval train artillery 

[ 57 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

guns, every man was there for a purpose, to get our fellows 
through by laying down a walloping barrage, such as the 
Germans never experienced. This barrage kept up for half an 
hour, and when our observers either at the front or in the 
observations or from any angle whatever possible told the story 
of the effect of our barrage, the Infantry went "over the top" 
with orders to different batteries of the artillery to move forward 
and take new positions, while the bigger guns kept up the fire 
on the next line of the enemy's defense, they in turn as the 
Infantry still kept going forward to reach farther back as the 
enemy's next defenses, the smaller calibre guns all the while keep- 
ing up their rolling barrage. It was all right for us the first 
twenty-four hours to have the jump on the enemy, even though 
they gave us a stubborn, hard fight after we passed through the 
front line of Austrians, then a line of other German soldiers, 
but when we reached the defense held by the Prussians it was 
nip and tuck for every foot of ground, with them even making 
counter charges to stop advance of ours. In the meantime the 
enemy's available guns were set back of their lines and on the 
next day, the enemy gave us a taste of shelling. It was now 
forward to get through that gap, which the French had failed 
utterly time and time again to do, for it was a death trap in 
every sense of the word, and believe me, when the 115th Infantry's 
first battalion reached its objective and the next battalion from 
the 113th went forward, things looked pretty thin for a chance 
of a fellow to get out of it safely. It is hard to describe what 
was going on all at the same time, but rules laid out had to be 
immediately acted on as agreed, or the result would be a failure 
to get the Germans out into the open and then they would counter 
charge us with a drive. Austrian prisoners were coming down 
the different openings from the front in fives, tens and so on, 
up to a hundred at a time, and one particular happy moment I 
will always remember was the bunch of prisoners that came down 
the open lane or partly called road, with officers of the Austrians 
as high as the Colonel. In this group there was a whole battery 
of men of the Austrians' heavy artillery guns represented, with 

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a doughboy leading with a French soldier and the same in 
the rear. 

The day of October tenth having passed with the Germans 
getting busier from their rear lines with their heavy guns, brought 
to my mind that we were now going to get our bit to do and 
plenty of it. It was generally known that when a division went 
into the line and it had lost say 20% of its personnel, the 
division would be relieved by the division which was in reserve. 
In our reserve we had the 26th Division and in the line on our 
right was the 33rd Division fighting, and on our left was a French 
division, who tried twice to go forward, and then we had to 
put in an American outfit to keep the line going forward on 
our left, to matcli with the center and right. What a whirl 
it was, both sides doing their best to fight it out, with the 
American Army always getting ahead in spite of the German 
High Command putting in three of their Kaiser's best regiments. 
One of these German regiments was known as the famous gas 
regiment period. Believe me, the good old American gas-mask did 
its bit while the German gas outfit stayed in the line. The Ger- 
man prisoners captured always had the same side to take on our 
effective barrage work, and the way the American troops would 
always get through them at last. A sight which greeted my 
eyes as I lay in a shell hole by a big howitzer in the center of the 
field, waiting for a corporal with relief, was the group of Frencli 
colored troops from Tunis, whose feet were swelled up so that 
only the sole and tying part of the field shoes were left 
for them to walk on. These colored troops were alwa3^s 
known to get this way if they spent a night in the trenches 
or front lines and when or where tanks could not be used effec- 
tively these chaps were put in. They are experienced fighters, and 
the Germans know that when they come for them, with the Prus- 
sian it means fight without any quarter. But throwing up their 
arms and yelling "Kamarad" wouldn't stop the Tunis chap from 
killing him anyway. These colored troops of the French were 
known as colonials. Our scout planes were always calling for 
a panel to be shown so that they could see what station it was, 
either Battalion, Regimental or Divisional Headquarters, and then 

[ 59 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

they would drop their message or send it by radio, at the same 
time watching for enemy planes. During these first days of the 
big push through the Argonne, over the Meuse and through the 
hills, our chaps had to fight on the most treacherous ground for 
the Germans had all of it mapped and every one of their officers 
knew it by memory. I even remember the methodical way they 
would shell the hospitals at Charny, because their fire was pretty 
accurate on account of mapping of the section, using the church 
steeple on their map as their guide. The 153rd Artillery battery 
was putting 9.2 shells into their guns at the rate of about 
122 shells to the minute for the battery, the shells containing 
TNT and shrapnel. The havoc wrought by our barrages was 
easily seen when we would move forward steadily over the ground 
we captured for the ground was torn asunder at every angle, 
and every underneath-the-ground contraption made impossible 
to stay in to hold out against us. In one place I remember while 
making a trip with relief and replacements, I found the Germans 
had made a concrete dugout at least 30 or 40 feet under the 
ground. In some of the dugouts we would find sny a bottle on a 
shelf, but if we picked up the bottle we would be blown to kingdom 
come, even in one place a small door of a dugout was left ajar and 
when it was pulled open it released a charge of a bomb. One had 
to use his head at all times, even though rations were never ex- 
pected to reach us for some time. The standing order always was 
"troops and ammunition first," and it was readily borne out if one 
saw the procession of troops and ammunition trains rushing to 
the front. 

In summing up these first days of doings within our own outfit, 
I found that, for moral courage, we had it sound and fast. We 
had ammunition enough coming up always ; for Signal equipment 
we could use anything for communication even to as far back 
as Division Headquarters, and rations we got when they could get 
to us. The whole drive so far showed we were going fast on 
the enemy and the prisoners were coming through under guard 
in bunches. Such a filthy-looking bunch the Austrians were 
compared with the better fitted-out Germans. Opening one 

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knapsack of an Austrian prisoner I found black bread, some 
carrots, and a small piece of dark looking cheese. 

The artillery was backing the center of the drive with all its 
power to get the boys through that never forgotten valley, where 
dead man's hill played so prominent a part in the drive of 1916 
for Paris. The 15th of the month found us through Molleville 
Farm, Cote de Roche, over the Meuse, and in the heart of the Ar- 
gonne. The method for markers (engineers who lay on the ground 
with an arm pointed out in the direction to go for the infantry) 
to go ahead at night gave me one idea that soon we would be 
where the Germans would make their last stand on the Kremhilde 
line, and then open country to Sedan and the Rhine. October 
22, 1 remember was misty as could be, not even a hand before one's 
eyes could be seen (as it were), and our T. P. S. sets just visible. 
Our little way dugout mess kitchen for hurry rations for forward 
troops was knocked some by a well planned shot and one of our 
cooks bid us good-by for the first Aid Hospital, his one arm no 
good for the rest of his life. Our casualties were many and even 
when I went over in the large field to one of our forward moving 
panel stations, a dud took the corner of our small lookout for 
aeroplanes off. We were now in it for the last stretch through the 
hills, and no chance to guess when we would be pulled out for a re- 
lief division (the 26th). Between October 23 and 26 the enemy was 
using every possible means of warfare to stop their retreat and 
counter attack us. These three days were the hottest of the fight- 
ing in the Argonne. The night of October twenty-sixth at 9.15 
p. M. I bid "Heaven speed" to my three bunkies, a top sergeant 
acting as 2nd Lieutenant, a sergeant of the station, and a Private 
of the Radio Company, and a Private of our Wire Company, who 
were killed by well-directed shots and with phosgene gas at 
Brabant. At the same time three of our first aid hospitals in the 
forward area were shot to pieces. This night was the beginning 
of the end of the Germans' stand on their last defense, then the 
open country on the Rhine. We had nothing now but grit to 
go on and do our last bit, get to our objective and hold it for 
the relief division, our casualties were pretty heavy for the divi- 
sion. October 30 in the morning found the Infantry, Artillery, 

[ 61 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Signal Corps, etc., outfits depleted for "replacements." From 
October 18 to the 28th we had received up to about 40 replace- 
ments alone for our Battalion; more could not be had just then. 
Some of them never heard a shot before, and two, I re- 
member, who were so "off in space" that they could not 
remember the first thing to do when gas was announced 
(Hold your breath until your gas mask is fully adjusted). 
Another chap couldn't keep from crying, even after he 
tried himself to find out wh}^ he was acting that way. Just 
the break in a chap's life in his first action. October 30, late 
in the day, we were ordered to the rear, and as the College building 
in Verdun (what little landmark was left of it) was our 
meeting place, all night the signal fellows did their best 
to get there somehow. OflScially November 1, we were at 
Verdun. After rollcall at the College in Verdun, we had 
a chance to get something to eat, which after all was what every 
man wanted more than gold. The big clock up in the cathedral, 
which was sliattered, still looked big enough for a mark, and 
when the bell tolled again for the first time in about two years, 
the few minutes passed after its message that all was well for 
the big drive when a German long range gun let loose and with 
a few whizz-bangs brought down more of the clock, a piece of the 
hand I still have as a souvenir that the boches were still on the 
job even in retreat. 

A warm meal over, and then we were ready for the Chinese 
French camions to take what was left of our outfit back to the 
rest area. At seven p. m. we marched in sections through the 
old gates of Verdun and on out into the road to where we were 
to wait for troop transportation. During the wait we once 
again saw a German plane try for some observation in our rear, 
and down it came in battered condition, and we found michelen 
tires attached to it when it fell into a field. At 10.30 
p. M. we were loaded on the camions, sixteen to a truck, 
with all belongings, and we were off in the convoy with 
the rest of the division to somewhere, no one knew where. 
AH day we traveled at a fast rate of speed, until we 
reached Bar-le-Duc, where we stayed for a short time to let the 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

straggling trucks catch up, and then on again to Robert-Espagne, 
where we arrived about 9.30 p. m. This town was a bad place 
for troops, muddy and damp, even though the barracks of 
French make were a little better for sleeping. The next morning 
all men were assigned to their respective sections in the barracks, 
where tales and tales were told of each one's experience in the 
lines and who were missing or killed. At Battalion Headquarters 
we were busy as could be checking up our reports to be forwarded 
and accounting for the men not yet joined. Clothing, rations, 
overhauling of all equipment, and our very much needed sleep, 
with plenty of washing and shaving to take away the grim look 
of the trenches, front lines, and battlefield were the orders issued 
each day until the evening of November 10 when all men were as- 
signed to different work to put up our replenished outfit for an- 
other move, this time to the front of Metz, where we were to get by 
at all costs. Many of the thoughts of the Argonne and the 
result were in everybody's mind and as midnight of the tenth was 
passed and the boys all fell into their bunks, no one knew that 
we would be told of the Armistice upon the 11th. At reveille all was 
in readiness for the move, when the courier arrived from Division 
Headquarters to halt all movements until otherwise notified. At 
eleven p. m. the wireless got the news of the Armistice, and if 
expressions were wanted for any man's face, the best expression 
I could see on all of us was the meaning to get back home again 
in the U. S. A. with a thankful feeling that we had so far suffered 
less than any outfit in the last drive. Now the better spirit to 
get up and say something proved a welcome attitude, and the 
free and easy way of doing things once more was a welcome to 
us all. 

We stayed at Robert-Espagne until November 20 when at 
evening we took the "40 hommes and 8 chevaux" box cars again 
to a winter post, to wait until word was given for our march into 
the Army of Occupation. The morning of November 21 found us 
at Vitry of the Haute-Marne Province, where we unloaded and 
detrained after a miserable night of cold and damp weather. 
A march of eighteen kilometers, brought us to Bourbonne-les- 
Bains, where we all dropped into billets assigned to us by the 

[ 63 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

mayor of the town, and we hit the hay for all day. My first meal 
in this town was the best I had eaten for nearly three months. 
It was here I met the French sergeant who had charge of the 
pigeon cote in Verdun during our drive in the Argonne of twenty- 
three days, and he told me that after we had taken the camions 
out of the town on November 1, the Germans laid a fine bom- 
bardment of mustard gas in the town and he nearly lost all of his 
carriers. The 26th Division who had taken our place in line 
that day had done good work, and they had complimented our 
division on our way of getting things done even under shell fire. 

I now made up the pay-roll, for two months' pay, and our 
losses at the end of the roll which showed five killed in action, 
three missing, three dead in hospitals from disease, and about 
a hundred either wounded or gassed or from exposure, in base 
hospitals. When the pay-roll was paid by the finance officer 
everybody fell in for a good time, and when roll-call was made 
the following morning after pay day, one could easily see that 
home-look on all our faces once again. November passed with 
a month of rain, in which Thanksgiving Day greeted us with 
a hog we had purchased from the French authorities for about 
two hundred dollars from our Company funds still left from 
Camp McClellan, Ala. December came in with rain as usual, 
and again I dropped some more men for the hospitals, either 
from the effects of gas or unhealing wounds, exposui'e and 
the reaction. Christmas was a cheery day, and believe me it 
sure was a thankful day, for all the boys had been to a few 
small stores in town and had some way or other purchased some 
Christmas gifts which were sent home after our pay day, 
December 7. On Christmas day we could almost as a Battalion 
boast that each one had received his Christmas package from 
home. New Year was quietly spent in town as no real enthusi- 
asm could be shown on account of the lack of space, though a 
dance was held in the small casino of by-gone days when this tov/n 
was known as a resort. This day was not gi^eeted in as we used 
to in the U. S. A. 

In January, 1919, we were receiving back lost men of the old 
Battalion who had gone to the hospital from the Argonne Drive, 

[ 64 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

and were now ready for duty again. One sergeant, a bunkie of 
mine, didn't know the Armistice was signed until he had orders 
to join his own battalion in the latter part of December, as 
where he was, was a place for shell-shocked troops. Every one 
on returning to his outfit had a fine experience to relate and 
many the sad news was told of this chap or that chap. 

All of January was used to keep the troops in good condition 
for any further trouble, by using the same drill methods and 
exercises as we had been used to. Orders were now issued from 
General Headquarters to effect that 20% of each outfit would 
be allowed to go to a furlough place. Aix-les-Bains was on our 
list and the division sent its quota of men for a seven day stay 
at this resort. It was here that Harry Thaw once stopped in a 
place and tried to shoot at a statue on a bet among his friends. 
This was a fine place and a resort well known the world over. Of 
course all troops traveled to and back again in box cars no 
matter where they went on furloughs. Some tales of these travel- 
days to the show places of France and Italy in box cars. 

February was again a month for furloughs and the next quota 
went to Aix-les-Bains. This time they had nearly two weeks 
on account of town being quarantined, also a Sergeant-Ma j or of 
our infantry died here from the flu, and the 29th Division men 
turned out in a body at this town to honor him in the march to his 
final resting place. Swapping tales with other divisions at this 
place was a real treat in the Casino. March came in still with 
rain, making now just about 104 days of wet weather, and we 
also heard that in England they had only about 30 hours of sun- 
shine during the month of February. We thought the sun had 
lost its place in the heavens. 

My furlough came through in this month, and I went to the 
French Riviera where I stayed at Cannes, Martin Gap, Monte- 
Carlo, Mentone end even enjoyed a trip into Italy to Vimitiville. 
At Nice I had a very lovely time. At Monte-Carlo I went through 
the Casino where the biggest gambling place and the most luxu- 
rious outfit known in the world is staged. I also visited the Prince 
of Monaco's house and his Aquarium. I took a mule trip through 
the old Roman roads back in the mountains, where there still is 

[ 65 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the evidence of bygone days. During March and April this 
section of France is like our California for climate, but later 
in the season it is unbearable for heat. While here I also enjoyed 
the band of our division which played every afternoon in the 
Mentone Park just below the Casino which was opened by the 
Y. M. C. A. for us. My stay of seven days up, I went back to 
Bourbonne-les-Bains again in the same old way as we were wont 
to travel. 

April came in with sunshine and fine weather, with now and 
then a rain storm, and after orders were received to pack up 
for home, we left this town in the convoy and entrained at Juissey, 
on April 14. I still remember the Infantry standing as well as 
the most of the division in almost a foot of water while General 
Pershing inspected us prior to our leaving this part of the 
country. April 18 we were in Saint Mars-sous-Ballon (forward- 
ing area of Le Mans for troops homeward bound) where we 
had our rigid inspections prior to entraining for some port of 
debarkation. We stayed here getting our personal things in 
shape for boxing, or putting up in packages for the hold of the 
ship we would take, after our usual exercises and duties for the 
day were over. 

On April 28 orders for entraining in the U. S. make of 
box cars (the second we were able to ride in since our arrival 
in France) made us jump for the last trip in France to a port 
where we would see the ships once again for home. We arrived 
at St. Nazaire after an all-night fast ride, and then hiked to 
the Debarkation Camp No. 1, where the usual cleaning up 
process from head to foot, including clothing, was taken care 
of. We stayed there to get paid up for the month of April, and 
embarked on the U. S. S. lowan on May 9, 1919, for the good 
old U. S. A. Our trip coming home was with a different feeling 
and a different atmosphere, and when we greeted the real Ameri- 
can faces just before we sighted the Statue of Liberty in New 
York Harbor, many a chap felt his last wish had come true, to 
get back home. Glad or happy was never the word to fit the 
moment we spied the greeting boats some one we knew or 
our relatives. They showered us with all kinds of packages of 

[ 66 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

goodies, on this memorable morning of May 20, 1919, when our 
sea trip was over, just making twelve days on the ocean aboard 
the U. S. S. lowan. My thoughts were certainly plenty of the 
bright days ahead again, and the changes that had taken place 
since we left home for the first drills in the army in 1917. Before 
our Commanding General Charles G. Morton said good-by to 
us at St. Mars-sous-Ballon, he asked that every chap in his 
Division get home and make the best of life that could be had 
after our discharge. His letter to our Signal Battalion spoke 
with pride and honor of it, for this Signal Battalion was his pride. 

We now debarked at Hoboken, N. J., and entrained on the 
troop trains for Camp Dix, N. J., where we finally got all the 
facts together and reports for our final returns to the Army. 
Everything disposed of, final pay-roll made up, the Battalion dis- 
banded, fond farewells to our many comrades in the Signal Corps, 
and we were ready for the discharge center at Camp Dix to act 
on our discharges from the army. 

On May 27 we filed through the many gang-ways to the pre- 
paring desks where we filed along from one department to another, 
getting our papers made out and in shape for the next day. 
Early next morning, May 28, we marched in a body, those who 
were called for discharge stepped up and received thir records, 
passed on and on, until at about 11.30 a. m. I found myself with 
my honorable discharge papers in hand, army pay paid to date, 
and a ticket for home. Our next train was not until after two 
p. M., so a few of my home town bunkies strolled over to the 
Hostess house where we dined, our last meal together in uniform. 

We talked of the days in France, of the battles, of the hikes, 
of the camping places, of the Red Cross and Salvation Army 
ladies who gave us crullers and chocolate at the end of many 
a hard forced march, and of the chaps who rested in French 
soil. The most pleasant moments I can recall were those 
dear faces on the small boats which greeted us in New 
York Harbor who were eagerly looking for their son, brother, 
sweetheart or husband, and the reception we received at the 
piers. Yes, it was sure a happy moment to be in the U. 
S. A. again, after all we had gone through. In all my 

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SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

travels and army life one thought always occurred to me, 
and that was, you cannot meet a sweeter girl than an American 
lady, for she surely did stand back of our boys in this war to 
the last moment. 

The evening of May 28 found me at home, the best place on 
old mother earth. Enough said about the reception I received. 
I still feel it. The first morning of June I found myself once more 
in civilian clothes and working again in the good old Hanover 
National Bank of New York City. 

Our American Legion was formed in France and when we came 
home we set a date to meet and form our Post. This we did 
and today I am a member of the 104th Field Battalion Post, of 
the American Legion, with many fond memories of our bit we 
did in the Great War. On October 17, 1919, I was elected Adju- 
tant of our Post — which has a membership of about 300 members 
— until November 11, 1920, when the Post would be in session 
for new officers. 

In bidding good-by to the many French people with whom I had 
become acquainted in France, I reall}' enjoy now the correspon- 
dence of three families whom I knew had the same ideas as we 
Americans, and who appreciated our boys coming to help them out 
in the greatest war ever made on earth. 

So now with my hand turned toward life's problems and per- 
plexities I know that my reverence for my bunkies who lie in 
France among the poppies will always give me the inspiration to 
be a better man and to stand by my home, to keep it 
inviolate and to honor it, and cherish the memories of "doing 
our bit." 



F. F. CHRISTOPHER 

Born at Ramsey, N. J., March 4, 1891. 
Attended Ramsey, N. J., Public School. 







N February 26, 1918, I was inducted into the service of 
the U. S. National Army, and reported at Camp Dix, N. J., 

[ 68 ] 




FRANK F. CHRISTOPHER 



ROBERT CLARK 




ARTHUR F. CLARKE 



JOHN CLOS, JR. 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

on the same day for military training. I was attached to 
Battery C, 308th Field Artillery, and one week later assigned 
to the Battery. For two weeks I received instructions in foot 
drills and soldiering, after which I was transferred to special 
duty on the Psychological Board. This work consisted of ex- 
amining all soldiers mentally, to find out in what branch of the 
service they would be most fitted. My work for the first month 
in that capacity was to examine the papers of each individual 
and give him a rating. Later, I made up compiled reports 
which were sent to Washington each week. I did this 
special work until May 26, 1918, at which time I sailed with 
the Battery for foreign service. The Cedric of the White Star 
Line was the ship on which I sailed. I did not mind the trip 
even though I had heard and read so much about the submarines. 
It took eleven days to cross. We landed at Liverpool, England, 
and went directly to Camp de Meucon, France, to complete our 
training before going into battle. On June 17, 1918, I was 
appointed Battery Clerk, in charge of all the paper work for 
the Battery. On June 25, 1918, I was promoted to Corporal, 
and this position and rank I held until I was discharged. The 
first trip to the front started on August 17, 1918. I led the 
Battery into the first position in the woods and was put in 
charge of about sixty men. We hiked for twelve hours fully 
equipped. When we arrived at our destination my heels were 
blistei-ed and bleeding to such an extent that it was a great effort 
for me to walk. It was very fortunate for me that particular 
time, for I am sure I would not have been able to run very far. 
The real war life started from then on and lasted until Novem- 
ber 11, 1918, when the Armistice was signed. I'm sure that I 
slept in a hundred or more places during that time, and not 
very pleasant ones at that. I remember one night sleeping in 
the rear of a shack where I had a temporary oflSce. The rats 
were the size of cats and gave me very little peace for the entire 
night. The most comfortable sleeping place I found for about 
six weeks was on top of an equipment wagon, filled with harness, 
saddles, etc. My working facilities in the woods were very un- 
satisfactory, due to the fact that I had no place on which to 

[ 69 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

rest my typewriter but my knees. My records too had to be 
kept in very inconvenient places. This added great difficulty to 
the work. 

About four weeks after the Armistice was signed, the Battery 
moved to a small village about one hundred miles from the front. 
There the real work of getting the records into shape started. 
On April 23, 1919, our orders came to go to Marseilles to be 
transported to the United States. On arriving at Marseilles, 
I found an enormous amount of work awaiting me. I worked 
for two days and two nights without a wink of sleep and only one 
meal. At four p. m. April 26, 1919, the Battery boarded the 
Pesaro, an Italian ship, and at six p. m. we were on our way to 
the good old U. S. A. The trip via Gibraltar took eighteen 
days. We arrived in New York on May 14, 1919. I thought 
my work was over, but when I arrived at Camp Dix, I had 
another speedy session such as I had experienced at Marseilles. 
I had no objection to this final amount of work, for I knew the 
quicker it was over the sooner I would be back to civil life 
again. 

Even though I sacrificed more than a year's time, I shall 
never regret the duty I performed to my country. The experi- 
ence I gained has more than repaid me for the effort. 



ROBERT CLARK 
Born at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, October 16, 1894. 



M- 



.Y CAREER in the Army started August 15, 1918, when 
I was drafted from Local Board No. 2, located at 144th Street 
and Third Avenue, New York City. I was sent to Camp Upton, 
L. I., staying there for two weeks, was then transferred to Camp 
Mills, where I passed my over-seas examination. One week later, 
I left for France with the 31st Division, better known as the 
"Dixie Division." We sailed on the White Star liner Olympic 
and after an uneventful voyage, arrived at Southampton, seven 
days later. After disembarking, we hiked to a rest camp at 

[ 70 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Winchester, taking four hours to reach this Camp. The fol- 
lowing morning there were forty men detailed, of which I was 
one, to go to the dock at Southampton and unload wounded 
soldiers from two hospital ships that had just arrived from 
France. This kind of work was not very pleasant on account 
of the sights that confronted us. All of these soldiers were 
wounded seriously and we had to be very careful in carrying 
them. The same evening we sailed for France and arrived at 
Havre the following morning and hiked again to another rest 
camp outside of Havre, which took us six hours to reach. It 
may be of interest to know that during our travels we 
have to carry a full pack which consists of three blankets, a 
shelter half, toilet articles, one pair of hobnailed shoes weighing 
eight pounds, pine and poles for tent, a trench shovel, gas 
mask and helmet, one slicker, overcoat, bayonet and rifle. This 
pack weighs about 90 pounds. 

We stayed at this rest camp for one day and then proceeded 
to a town called Le Mans which took us three days to reach. 
We traveled in box cars. The journey was very unpleasant on 
account of the cars being overcrowded. This camp was a for- 
warding camp, which means that most of the troops that went 
there were used as replacement units. Our division was split up 
at this point. There were 400 of us transferred to the 28th 
Division, I being one of the number. We were taken from Le Mans 
to St. Marks in Army trucks. We stayed there one day, and 
then hiked to a town called Claremont. This hike was one of 
the longest hikes we had. It took us exactly ten nights to get 
there. We were marching from six o'clock in the evening until 
four o'clock in the morning. We slept during the day in any 
old place we would find, which was usually a field. On arriving 
at Claremont, we filled up a gap in the 28th Division. This 
division had been up in the Argonne Forest for some time, and 
were back here resting, preparatory to going up to the lines 
again. About five days later the Division received orders to 
proceed to the front again, it taking us two days to get there. 

During our stay behind the lines, which was for several days, 
we were put through some very hard training, which was very 

[ 71 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

valuable to us later on. On October 29 we received orders to 
move up into the front line which we did, relieving the 2nd Divi- 
sion which took up a new position to the right of us. The fol- 
lowing day the enemy kept shelling us continually, but they 
did very little damage. On November 2 we received orders to 
prepare for an advance. The order also stated that our artillery 
would open fire at 2 a. m. when we would then advance. It was 
exactly 2 a. m., when our guns opened fire. It was terrible. 
Some of us thought the world had come to an end. It was a 
great strain on all of us, and we were very glad when it 
stopped. We then started to advance, meeting very little resist- 
ance. It* was while advancing we saw the havoc our shells had 
wrought. We kept advancing for nine days and then the good 
news was brought that the Germans had surrendered. The men 
almost went wild with joy. Some of them were even crying 
for joy. November 13 orders were received for us to withdraw 
and proceed to a place called Camo, which we did, arriving there 
two days later. We stayed at Camo for two weeks doing 
nothing but resting. I must say that we enjoyed the rest; one 
hundred men were picked out and sent to a place called Is-Sur- 
Telle, which is located about fifty miles from the Swiss border. 
This is the point where the United States had one of their largest 
supply basis. We were formed into a Guard Corps and with some 
other Guard Corps we guarded four thousand German prisoners 
who were doing detail work such as unloading trucks and storing 
them in warehouses. After doing two months of guard duty, 
we were detailed on trains to guard foodstuffs which was being 
sent up to the Army of Occupation in Germany. Our desti- 
nation was a place called Treves. After seeing to the safe ar- 
rival of these foodstuffs we proceeded back to Is-Sur-Telle where 
we were again dispatched back to Treves where we were detrained 
and put to guarding the supplies that were brought in. During 
our stay in this town we were billetted with the German people 
who treated us very well, and I must saj' I enjoyed myself very 
much while in Germany. To make it more enjoyable, I re- 
ceived word that a furlough had been granted me, so just as 
soon as it was possible for me to leave, I did so, visiting the 

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THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. I also had a forty- 
eight hour stay in Paris, during which time I visited Versailles, 
the seat of the Peace Conference. On my arrival back at camp, 
which was about June 1, I was informed that we had received 
orders to prepare for home. So, on June 5 we left for the 
Port of Embarkation which was Brest. On our arrival we were 
assigned to a battalion which was made up of casuals, and after 
going through several examinations, we sailed for the United 
States June 24, on the JJ. S. S. Seattle, arriving in New York 
July 4. On arriving here, we were met by the K. of C. people 
who gave us cigarettes, cigars and candy, and also by the 
Mayor's Committee. We were sent to Camp Merritt, where 
we stayed four days and then to Camp Upton where we were dis- 
charged. 



ARTHUR FRANCIS CLARKE 

Born at New York City, April 12, 1887. 
Attended Public School No. 19 and Evening School. 



u 



PON leaving school I entered the employ of Arnold, Con- 
stable & Company, obtaining my first business experience in the 
Credit Department of that Company. After some years of dry 
goods experience I came with the Hanover National Bank. It 
was in 1907, and in those days of disturbed financial conditions 
I had a fine opportunity of becoming well initiated in banking 
work. On March 5, 1918, I enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve 
Force, reporting for active duty a few days later to the "Aide 
for Information" at the Navy Yard, New York. I am sorry 
that I cannot make mention of the many interesting and stirring 
events in the great war drama which came to my observation, 
as the Government would not wish such information revealed. 
I tried to do my full share in the important department with 
which I was connected. I was released from active duty in 
December, 1918, subject to the call of the Government, and again 
re-entered the employ of the Bank. 

[ ^3 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 



JOHN CLOS, Jr. 

Born at Jersey City, N. J., May 8, 1891. 

Attended Public and High Schools, Jersey City, N. J. 



E. 



iNTERED the service of the Hanover National Bank Octo- 
ber 2, 1909. 

Little did the manhood of America ever dream that they would 
be drawn into a conflict that has brought such havoc upon the 
whole world. The World War has ended as far as the noise of 
battle is concerned, but for the peoples of shell-torn and pillaged 
France and Belgium, and our own dear people whose sons paid 
the supreme sacrifice, for them 'twill never end. In some man- 
ner or form each and every loyal American played some part 
either in or outside of the theatre of war. To those who for 
some reason or other could not serve in a military sense and 
who sacrificed without complaint is due much commendation. 

The writer was drafted on the 28th day of May, 1918, the 
beginning of a new adventure, that of a soldier. On June 1, I 
left for Fort Slocum, New York, At this place were some ten 
thousand men, of every creed, race and station of life, coming 
from every state in the Union. In short, this place was a melt- 
ing pot. Here we were put through the customary red tape, and 
assigned to a temporary outfit. 

On June 4, I left for Camp Jackson, S. C, along with four- 
teen hundred other men and arrived there on June 5, after a 
very tiresome journey of thirty-seven hours. Here I was as- 
signed to 4th Battery, 11th Battalion, 4th Regiment. This was 
a Field Artillery Replacement Regiment, of which there were 
many in this camp. 

On July 5, was transferred to 19th Battalion, 17th Regiment, 
a vocational regiment, to assist in opening the first Army Cleri- 
cal School at Camp Jackson. Having finished my task, was 
transferred to Battery C, 4th Battalion, 2nd Regiment. This 
Regiment was preparing to depart for France. Lieut. Haverly 
was in command of Battery C, and on the 6th I was Acting 

[ 74 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Sergeant and placed in charge of all detail concerning an Over- 
seas oufit. 

On August 10, we left for Camp Hill, Va. Here we received 
our complete Overseas equipment, and on the 21st marched to 
Newport News to board the transport Pastores which sailed the 
following morning at ten o'clock. Fourteen transports made up 
the convoy that morning with seventy thousand men aboard. 
The weather was ideal all the way over, and we did not encounter 
any trouble as regards "subs." 

At five A. M. on the 2nd of September land was sighted, for 
we were in the Bay of Biscay, near the harbor of Brest, France- 
It was a beautiful sight to behold the sun shining upon the white 
stone houses that crowned the high verdant hills of the harbor. 
At six o'clock on September 2, we docked in Brest Harbor and 
set foot on French soil. What a relief it was to be on land again 
after such a tiresome journey. We marched full pack three 
miles up the winding hills of Brest to the Pontanezen Barracks, 
where we stopped for a rest. These barracks were used by the 
French Marines during Napoleon's time. Moving on about 
eight miles we made our first camp about one a. m. on the 3rd 
of September, in the pouring rain. This place was formerly a 
farm. We pitched tents, and throwing a blanket on the ground, 
or mud as it was then, crawled in for a little sleep. We stood 
reveille at 5 :30 next morning, and had our first "mess" on French 
soil in the pouring rain. We stayed here eight days, during 
which time it rained continually. Most of the men were sick, 
as well as the officers, for it took a pretty strong man to pull 
through the conditions in which we lived. Drinking water 
seemed to be scarce, for we were only allowed a canteen full a 
day. 

On the night of September 10 we broke camp, in the teeming 
rain. All our equipment was a mess, for it was rain-soaked and 
plastered with mud. We slung our packs on our backs and 
marched to the railroad station, five miles away, to entrain for 
"Somewhere." We traveled two and a half days in box cars, 
a distance of 900 miles. These cars, half as large as our own, 
are labeled: "8 Chevaux (horses) 40 Hommes (men)" — but 

[ 75 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

40 men fit in like sardines. Our subsistence on this journey 
consisted of canned beans, corned beef and tomatoes. We had 
not a drop of water all the way. The weather was cold and 
damp ; and from the lack of sleep and no hot food the men pre- 
sented a sickly lot. 

We arrived at Le Courneau, France, at eleven p. m. on Sep- 
tember 13, much the worse from our journey. We marched 
to the barracks here and dropping our packs, and with all our 
clothes on, stretched ourselves on the wooden bunks that looked 
more like crates, and were soon asleep, for we were half dead. 
This place was Camp Hunt, an Artillery Replacement Train- 
ing Camp, and formerly occupied by the French. Training in 
the States was mild compared to what we received here, for we 
were on the go from 7 a. m. to 4 :30 p. m. every day. 

On the 5th of October the men I came over with were sent 
as replacements to the 90th Division, who were then fighting in 
the Argonne. With six other men I was left behind, and trans- 
ferred to Headquarters Company of the Replacement Regiment 
of this Camp. Up to November 11 we were pretty well worn 
out, as our hours were from 7 a. m. to 10 and 12 o'clock at 
night. Our N. C. O. staff was small, and this being a Receiv- 
ing Station for troops, we were required to be up and doing all 
the time. 

On February 13, 1919, we left Camp Hunt for Comp-de- 
Souge, a resting place twelve miles from Bordeaux. We were 
then on our way home. 

On the 1st of April we marched to Camp Genicourt, thirty- 
seven miles away. At this Camp we were put through the mill, 
and received clean clothes. Genicourt is better known as a 
"delousing station." We stayed here a week, and left for 
Baseaus, seven miles away, where we boarded a boat and sailed 
down the Gironde River for Pauiliac. This was our final stop- 
ping place, prior to sailing for home. We stayed here for 
awhile, and on the 21st of April sailed for home, aboard the 
transport Pastores, the same boat on which we sailed for France. 

The trip home was made in ten days, and everything was 
fine except the last three days, when we were caught in a ninety- 

[ V6 ] 




WILLIAM COLLICH 



J. E. COOK 




HERBERT W. CRAFT 



WILLIAM F. CROZIER 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

mile gale, and then everything was all wrong. The reader prob- 
ably knows what a ninety-mile gale at sea is. 

We landed at Hoboken on May 1, 1919, and entrained for 
Camp Dix, N. J., where we were discharged May 5. Arrived 
home that night, and the following morning found me once more 
a free man — a civilian. 



WILLIAM COLLICH 

Born at New York City, December 23, 1895. 
Attended Public Schools. 



A. 



.FTER a short session in the Naval service I enlisted in the 
Regular Army and was assigned to the 20th Field Artillery, Bat- 
tery F, which was (in addition to the 19th and 21st Field Artil- 
lery) the 5th Field Artillery Brigade of the 5th Division Regular 
Army. These regiments were in training at Camp McArthur, 
Texas, where I was assigned to Brigade Headquarters. May 
15, 1918, the Brigade left Texas and arrived at Camp Upton a 
week later. May 28, 1918, we left for overseas and landed in 
England, where we stayed for a few days, proceeding later to 
France. I was engaged in several battles near Metz, facing 
death on two occasions. While engaged in artillery fire a Ger- 
man shell burst in the trench back of us and nearly buried all 
hands in dirt; and some time later the Germans caught part of 
our regiment unawares, killed several of the men, destroyed their 
horses and wagons, and the rest, including myself, had to make 
their way two miles back to the lines under constant German 
shell fire. 

I saw such harrowing sights and happenings, aeroplanes battling, 
balloons set on fire, etc., that I couldn't concentrate my mind 
on anything. Our attack surely was a surprise to the Germans, 
because there were very few of our boys killed. In one place, 
I saw five in a bunch. They must have been caught in machine 
gun fire. The next day we were very careful walking around, 
as the ground was covered with grenades, unexploded shells and 

[ 77 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

all manner of German trick contrivances. The Germans have 
a hand grenade called a "potato masher." It looks exactly 
like a potato masher, but in the handle is a string. One fellow 
picked one up and, not knowing what it was, pulled the string 
and was killed. 

[It is regretted that owing to Mr. Collich's absence, this inter- 
esting fragment is incomplete.] 

J. EDWIN COOK 

Born at Bedford, Mass., August 23, 1897. 

Attended Public School of t^iat town until moving to Little Sil- 
ver, N. J., also High School, Red Bank, N. J. 



M. 



.Y FIRST business experience was in a Commercial OfBce 
as correspondent and typist, after which I joined the staff of 
the Hanover National Bank. I was always interested in outdoor 
sports, and was greatly disappointed that my efforts to enlist 
in the Army did not meet with success. I tried for the Aviation 
Service. But I was glad when finally able to enter the "A-1" 
Class, and I was sent to Fort Hamilton on October 24, 1918. 
After a brief stay there, I was transferred to Battery A, 31st 
Regiment, Heavy Artillery, and sent to Camp Eustis, Va. 

After hearing and reading of the tales of valor and bravery 
of the boys "Over There" my short experience in the Army 
seems very trivial and insignificant, as I had but a small taste 
of Army life. 

M3' training commenced at Fort Hamilton in the Heavy 
Artillery. In the Army one soon learns discipline and strict 
obedience to orders from all Superior Officers. Our Lieutenant 
in a speech to us, as "rookies," said: "You will be asked to do 
lots of strange things here, in fact work you have never done 
before. Don't stop to ask questions, just do as you are told." 

A soldier in the army is a "jack of all trades." I have peeled 
"spuds" and made "slum" in the kitchen one day, and the next 
day been busy shoveling coal in the morning and loading a three 
ton truck with sand in the afternoon. 

[ 78 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

After two weeks preliminary training at Fort Hamilton I 
was transferred to Fort Wadsworth. From Wadsworth I went 
to Camp Eustis, Va., to receive my training for Overseas ser- 
vice. My training at Eustis consisted of calisthenics, signalling 
and Infantry drill in the morning. In the afternoon we had 
Artillery drill and instruction on the big guns. These guns 
were of the 8-inch Field Howitzer type, and the long range 6-inch 
rifles. Most of the training in actual firing takes place on the 
other side in England or in France behind the lines. 

In the late afternoon our battery would take a hike with 
packs and full equipment and practice pitching pup tents. 
Each man had to do a turn at guard duty too. 

After three weeks of intensive training at Eustis I passed my 
Overseas examination and was due to sail for France. The 
signing of the Armistice, however, left me "out of luck." 

A short time before I received by discharge, the camp held a 
large field meet in which all the regiments competed. There was 
running, jumping, tug of war, chariot races, and all the other 
sports that go toward making a successful field meet. Our 
regiment, the 31st, carried off a large share of the honors, cap- 
turing 44 points. Our nearest competitor was the 32nd Regi- 
ment with 29 points. These two regiments, the 31st and 32nd, 
were assembled at Fort Hamilton and were composed chiefly of 
New York boys. 

On December 4 I passed another strenuous examination and 
received my honorable discharge with an excellent record on 
December 7. I will never regret the time spent in the Army, as 
I believe the military training and experience one receives is in- 
valuable. 



HERBERT WINFIELD CRAFT 

Born at New York City, January 6, 1887. 
Attended New York Public Schools. 



I 



WENT to work for a firm of lawyers where I remained for 
two years, going from there to the employ of a stock brokerage 

[ 79 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

firm. In 1905 I learned that there was a position open at the 
Hanover National Bank, applied for it, and entered their employ 
on September 2 of that year. Here I remained, serving in 
various capacities until May of 1918, when through the kind 
offices of Local Board No. 135, I was inducted into the U. S. 
Army and sent to Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, S. C, to 
train. After seven weeks of the hardest kind of work, the out- 
fit was brought north to Camp Merritt at Tenafly, N. J., out- 
fitted for overseas, and on July 26 embarked on board the 
U. S. S. Kroonland; sailed south to Newport News, where we 
joined a convoy of several other transports, and, guarded by 
two cruisers and several destroyers, started for France. After 
a calm and uneventful trip lasting eleven days, we landed at 
Brest, France, on August 6, and went into a so-called rest camp. 
The "rest" consisted chiefly in drilling and doing detail work on 
the docks at Brest, and after eight days of this kind of leisure, 
we entrained for the front. We were jammed into the cars, the 
rations thrown in on top of us, and away we went. Then ensued 
four days of the toughest traveling I have ever experienced or 
ever hope to. We were so crowded that it was impossible to 
lie down and in consequence, what sleeping we did, and it wasn't 
very much, we did sitting up or even standing. Upon our 
arrival at the front, we were assigned to support the French 
on a quiet sector, and served in that capacity without, however, 
seeing any action until September 11 when we were attached 
to the 42nd Division and early the next morning went into 
action in the St. Mihiel salient. This action lasted for six 
days when we were finally withdrawn and sent back to rest. 
After "resting" sufficiently, we were ordered to move up to take 
part in the operations against Metz, which operations were subse- 
quently made unnecessary by the signing of the Armistice by the 
German government. Immediately after this, we were ordered 
to chase "Fritz" back where he came from, and so moved up 
with the Army of Occupation into Germany, passing through 
Lorraine and the Duchy of Luxemburg on the way. We remained 
in Germany for five months doing guard duty on the Moselle river 
and finally, on May 14, 1919, started on the long journey home. 

[ 80 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

It was a longer journej than we had anticipated and it was not un- 
til July 6 that we arrived at South Boston and were sent to Camp 
Devens. Our troubles, however, weren't over yet for we found 
that we were to be sent from there to Camp Upton at Yaphank, 
Long Island, on July 10, and, after the usual examinations, 
were discharged on Saturday, July 12. 



ROBERT W. CROZIER 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., May 20, 1897. 
Attended Public and High Schools 



I 



WORKED for the Bell Telephone Company for a while. 
Later entered the employ of the Hanover National Bank. 
August 31, 1918, called in the draft. Reported for duty Sep- 
tember 5, and was sent direct from Riverhead, L. L, to Camp 
Jackson, S. C, where I was placed in the Field Artillery. Octo- 
ber 28 was sent with the 18th Battalion to Camp Hill, NcAvport 
News, Va. On November 10, at 2:30 a. m. orders were given 
to get ready for marching. We started two hours later; 
marched to Newport News and on board ship, arriving at 6 a. m. 
We were all ready to sail on Thanksgiving day, when orders sent 
us back to Camp Hill. 



RAYMOND N. CURTIS 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., February 5, 1897. 
Attended Brooklyn Grammar School and Commercial High 
School. 



I 



RECEIVED my preliminary training in business at the East 
River National Bank, New York City, and subsequent thereto 
entered the employ of the Hanover National Bank. I enlisted 
in the U. S. Marine Corps in August, 1918, reporting at the 

[ 81 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

23rd Street New York Recruiting Station. From there I was 
sent to the Training Station of the Marine Corps at Paris 
Island, S. C. Our training at this Station was very thorough, 
but I was there only for a short time, as the termination of 
hostilities prevented my engagement in foreign service. Upon 
receipt of my discharge, I re-entered the employ of the Hanover 
National Bank. 



F. REGINALD DREW 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., December 8, 1886. 

Attended school at Kingshridge, England, my parents being resi- 
dents of that town at the time. Upon returning to the 
States, I entered Trinity School, New York City, receiving 
my graduation diploma in due time. 



M 



.Y FIRST business experience was with Fleming & Patter- 
son, Silk Merchants of New York City, after which I entered 
the employ of the Hanover National Bank. I entered the 
Service July 24, 1918, and was ordered to Camp A. A. Hum- 
phreys, Va., as a member of the 2nd Engineers Training Regi- 
ment stationed at that place. I was later appointed to the 
Central Officers Training School at Camp Gordon, Ga. I was 
looking forward to obtaining my commission at this school, but 
our Company, the 32nd C. O. T. S., was discharged November 
30, 1918, and we were released from service. 



EDWARD ERNST, Jr. 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., December 7, 1897. 

Attended Public and High Schools of Brooklyn, New York. 



N. 



OVEMBER 7, 1918, I started for camp, arriving at the 
Air Service Depot, Morrison, Va., the following day. I was 
then attached to the Third Recruit Line as Assistant Supply 

[ 82 ] 




R. N. CURTIS 



REGINALD DREW 




EDWARD ERNST, JR. 



R. E. EVERISS 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Sergeant. Some months later, after being transferred from one 
organization to another, I was assigned to the 6T7th Aero Squa- 
dron, same being a permanent organization of that post. In 
the meantime I was promoted to the grade of Corporal, and 
after a short time with the 677th Aero Squadron I was again 
promoted to Sergeant. About January 15 an order came 
through Headquarters placing me on Special Duty with the 
Camp Supply office as stenographer for Captain Frank Bahel, 
Camp Supply and Disbursing Officer. This position I held until 
the time of my discharge. May 29, 1919. I was discharged with 
the understanding that I perform the same duties on a civilian 
status for a few months, and I stayed on the post until July 15, 
1919, Captain Frank Bahel being Commander of the Air Ser- 
vice Depot at the time I left for the North. 



RICHARD E. EVERISS 

Born at New York City, July 29, 1897. 

Attended Weyman Avenue School, New Rochelle, N. Y.; later en- 
tering Trinity Place School of that City. 

JDEFORE coming to the Hanover National Bank I had re- 
ceived some preliminary training in business in a Wholesale Dry 
Goods House. On July 1, 1918, I enlisted in the U. S. Marines, 
and shortly afterwards in a Company of fifty other recruits I 
was sent to Paris Island, a Training Station one mile off the 
coast of South Carolina. It was extremely hot at this place. 
I remember on one occasion the Official Bulletin registered a 
temperature of 136 degrees. Upon our arrival at Camp we had 
a medical examination and received our uniforms. I was put 
in Company 258, Battalion T. We had several weeks bayonet 
drill, digging trenches, and a general study of trench warfare at 
the Camp. Then we were sent over to the Marine Barracks, 
Washington, D. C. Our Company was stationed there until we 
were discharged from the service on January 30, 1919. All the 
boys were sorry that we did not have a chance to go overseas. 

[ 83 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

CHARLES FERST 

Born at New York City, May 18, 1897. 

Attended Public School and Stuyvesant High School. 



A 



FTER three years in Stuyvesant High School, I decided 
to enter upon my business career and to continue my studies 
at night. I attended Evening High School, where I took up a 
business course including Economics and Commercial Law. 
During my summer vacations, while attending Stuyvesant High 
School, I obtained some business experience. After leaving High 
School, I secured a position with the Library Bureau. Two 
years later I made application for a position with the Hanover 
National Bank, and was employed as runner. I gradually ad- 
vanced to the position which I am now holding as individual 
bookkeeper. 

I became of age on May 18, 1918, and a few months later, 
on September 7, 1918, received a notice to entrain for Camp 
Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., the following week. There were a few of 
the boys from my neighborhood, with whom I was inti- 
mately acquainted and although the journey to camp was very 
long and tiresome, we made the best of it and also found a great 
deal of diversion looking at the beautiful country through which 
we traveled. We were specially interested in noting the con- 
trast betwen North and South. The Red Cross was indeed very 
generous in handing out hot coffee, sandwiches, and cigarettes 
to all the boys at the various stopping places along the route. 
They certainly must be given a great deal of credit and praise 
for their good work. The boys were extremely anxious to reach 
Camp. We left New York Monday a. m. and did not arrive at 
Camp until Wednesday night, approximately fifty-eight hours. 
At first everything seemed very hard for us, not being accus- 
tomed to rough camp life, but we soon became used to all sorts 
of happenings. It took several days to get our examinations, 
uniforms and equipment; but after receiving our outfits, it was 
only a short time before we were put under strenuous and con- 
stant training. Two weeks later we went to the Rifle Range, 

[ 84 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

which we all found very interesting. According to rumor, we 
were expected to leave for Overseas after two or three weeks' 
training, but owing to the "Flu" epidemic, this had to be post- 
poned for an indefinite period. However, early in October we 
all received our Overseas equipment and expected to leave for 
"somewhere" almost any hour. This was put off for quite a few 
days and then our Company was split up, some of the boys 
leaving for embarkment camps and others being sent to various 
camps throughout the country, according to their vocations. 
The rest of the boys in our Company, myself included, remained 
at Camp Gordon; but we were scheduled to leave for Overseas 
in November. This order was cancelled, however, the day the 
Armistice was signed. There was great rejoicing at Camp when 
the boys heard that the Armistice had been signed, and we all 
took part in various details that had to be done around Camp. 

On December 26, 1918, I left Camp Gordon for Camp Upton, 
arriving there December 31. I received my discharge from the 
army January 6th, 1919. On the whole, I must say that army 
life was a very good experience for me and has helped me in 
many ways. However, I was very sorry not to have been able 
to get "Over There" to take an active part in this great war. 



LESTER FOREBELLAR 

Born at Poestenkill, N. Y., July 26, 1891. 

Attended scJiool at New York City, my parents moving there 
when I was very young. 



A 



FTER one or two preliminary experiences in business I 
came with the Hanover National Bank. I was drafted Septem- 
ber 18, 1918, and sent to Camp Upton for training, being placed 
with the 152nd Depot Brigade. From there, having experience 
in figures, I was detailed to the Statistical Department of the 
Army in New York City. The Armistice was signed so shortly 
after my enlistment that I had no particularly interesting Army 
experiences. I was recalled to Camp Upton in December, 1918, 

[ 85 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

and mustered out of the service from that place. Upon re- 
ceiving my discharge I returned to the Hanover National Bank. 



GEORGE E. FRENCH, Jr. 

Born at Jersey City, N. J., April 30, 1895. 

Attended Grammar ScJiools and High School in Jersey City, also 
Business School. 



I 



ENTERED the employ of the Western Electric Company of 
New York, and remained one year. My next business venture 
was with the Hanover National Bank of New York where I was 
located four years, resigning to enlist in the Medical Corps, 
Regular Army at Fort Slocum, N. Y., July 24, 1917. 

Fort Slocum was only an assembling post for recruits and 
accordingly I was sent with about fifty others to Fort Washing- 
ton, Md. It seems I was destined to travel while in the service. 
We remained there two weeks when orders came to move to Camp 
Wheeler, Macon, Ga., August 10, 1917. This trip was made 
under difficulties and we finally arrived there tired and hungry 
two days later. The climate and surroundings here were very 
different from what we had been accustomed to. We pitched 
our tents in a cotton field and immediately began policing up 
a suitable place to live. Everything went along smoothly for 
me there. Received my warrants as Corporal and Sergeant, 
and entered the Officers' Training Camp January 5, 1918, at 
Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. After fifteen weeks of hard work, I gradu- 
ated and received a commission as Second Lieutenant, Infantry, 
and was sent to Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga. Here I was at- 
tached to a Replacement Company for duty and spent three 
months drilling and instructing recruits. Was then ordered 
to Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas, and engaged in the same 
line of work. Each month 12,000 men were sent from this camp 
to France. Orders came from Headquarters sending me to 
Fort Sheridan, 111., October 18, 1919, where I arrived three days 
later and was put in charge of a Motor Transport Combat train 

[ 86 ] 




CHARLES FERST 



LESTER FOREBELLAR 




GEORGE E. FRENCH 



ADOLPH GARNJOST 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

which was under orders to move "Overseas." The signing of 
the Armistice held us in this country. The companies were sent 
to various embarkation camps for duty. I brought 500 men 
in one detachment to Camp Merritt in December, 1918. Upon 
my return to Fort Sheridan I was ordered to the Central Dept. 
Chicago, 111., where I remained until honorably discharged from 
the Army July 17, 1919. 



ADOLPH GARNJOST 

Born at New York, December 6, 1899. 

Attended New York and Brooklyn Public Schools, and Com- 
mercial High School. 



I 



N APRIL 8, 1915, I came into the employ of this Bank, 
and worked here until October 8, 1918, when I enlisted in the 
Air Service. 

On October 23, 1918, I was ordered to Mitchel Field, Garden 
City, New York, where I was assigned to First Company, First 
Training Brigade. This was the recruit brigade and we were 
kept very busy. We were put into the tent camp and kept in 
quarantine for two weeks. We were outfited with overseas 
equipment, and probably would have been sent overseas very soon 
when the Armistice was signed. 

After the Armistice was signed, I was transferred to the 339th 
Aero Squadron and remained in this squadron until February, 
when I was transferred to the 631st Aero Squadron. Mitchel 
Field was being used as a demobilization depot, and most of the 
Air Service men came back through this camp. The 631st Aero 
Squadron was a permanent squadron on the field, and the men 
were used on duty around the camp. I was assigned to duty 
with the Officers' Mess and later was assigned to the camp maga- 
zine. We published the stories of all the squadrons that came 
back and the work was very interesting. 

I was kept on duty with the Air Scout until my discharge on 
June 14, 1919. 

[ 87 J 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

JOSEPH V. GATELY 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., October 24, 1889. 
Attended St. Vincent de PauVs Academy, BrooJclyn. 



U: 



PON leaving school I entered the employ of the Hanover 
National Bank. I was drafted on the 25th of July, 1918, and 
sent to Camp Upton, at which Camp I was stationed until the 
first of September. From thence I was transferred to Company 
I, 68th Infantry, Camp Sheridan, Alabama, situated four miles 
from the city of Montgomery. Before entering the service, like 
most of the boys, I had never fired a gun, but I qualified as a 
marksman and was rated "A" in the psychology test. This 
test consists in answering some two hundred questions, which 
while simple in themselves are rendered somewhat difficult on 
account of the unusual character of the grouping of the ques- 
tions, and also in the fact that they have to be answered within 
a very short time limit. We were detained from going across 
by the outbreak of influenza at the Camp in October, but were 
scheduled to sail November 13. The signing of the Armistice, 
however, two days prior to this date greatly disappointed us 
all in our expectations of going over. I was mustered out Febru- 
ary 8, 1919, returning to the Hanover National Bank. 



GEORGE A. GODINE 

Born at New York City, November 2, 1894. 
Attended Public Schools. 



A 



T THE outbreak of the war I enlisted in Battery A of East 
Orange, N. J. Was sent to Camp Edge for a few months, and 
in June, 1918, went to Camp McClellan, Anniston, Ala. From 
there I was transferred to Troop A of Baltimore, Md., Cavalry, 
which was afterward turned into Military Police. We left for 
France in July, 1918, engaging in active service on the Meuse 
River, also at the Marne. We were in the thick of the fighting 

[ 88 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

under the command of General Morton, 29th Division, located 
in Alsace and Lorraine for a while. 

I have been through the most trying ordeal of my life so far. 
One may be able to imagine what it is like, but imagination 
can never excel the real sensation of that dreaded whiz and ex- 
plosion of the Boche shells, for I can never forget them. I 
have stood on a dangerous cross-road, near the front lines, in 
one of the worst battles of this war, where fighting has been 
going on steadily for the entire period of the war. Shells have 
broken over me and all around me, with men dropping on every 
side, but I escaped without any harm, I am thankful to say. 

[It is to be regretted that the Editors were unable to get the 
complete story of Mr. Godine.] 



ERNEST T. GOGOLL 

Born at TompJcinsville, S. I., February 29, 1896. 
Attended Public School at Tompkinsville. 



A 



TROOP train pulled into Camp Upton on the very warm 
afternoon of September 23, 1917, overloaded with rookies that 
were to be a part of the 77th Division. The fellows had entered 
into Army life with great ease, as the majority were gambling 
in small groups with cards or dice. I was one of the rookies ; 
just twenty-one ; a graduate of public school, and having had 
five years experience in the Hanover National Bank. 

Being among the first to train in this Camp, it fell to our lot 
to police the grounds around the barracks, dig stumps, and clear 
away a big forest in the eastern boundary of the reservation. 
We had the pleasure of being "jabbed" nine times (inoculated) 
for the prevention of different diseases that soldiers might con- 
tract. After the Camp was put in order, Regiments, Machine 
Gun Battalions, Hospital Corps, Artillery Batteries, and every- 
thing that went to make up a Division, began to form. When 
tilings finally settled I found myself in for sixteen weeks of in- 

[ 89 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

tensive training with Company G, 307th Infantry. The orders 
for intensive training were very simple to understand, as they 
said (when boiled down) : "Keep the Infantry on their feet and 
on the go eight hours a day," and our officers certainly enjoyed 
putting those orders through. I had ten days instructions in 
scouting, sniping, and observation by a British major, which 
helped me in my later experiences with the Germans. The life 
and work at Camp was very monotonous, but when ready to 
sail I felt confident that I would be able to meet and overcome 
any obstacle that barred my way. 

On Friday, April 5, orders came through causing our outfit 
to move the next day. Everybody was on the jump day and 
night. Sunday morning at 12:30 a. m. we were called out, lined 
up in front of the barracks, and received our final instructions, 
along with two hundred and fifty rounds of rifle ammunition. 
We marched down to the Camp terminal and boarded the train 
like an army of detectives instead of soldiers. The blinds were 
all pulled down and everyone was cautioned to keep under cover. 
We took boats at Long Island City and sailed to Hoboken where 
we embarked on the aS". S. Justicia and pulled out at one o'clock 
that afternoon. We stopped at Halifax long enough to pick 
up a convoy ; then we were off to have a look at Jerry. 

We reached England (Liverpool) April 20, traveled by train 
to Dover, and crossed the Channel to Calais. That night the 
moon was full and bright and the stars twinkled by the thou- 
sands, just the kind of night Jerry liked for his air raids. We 
were warned that if we should hear "Lonesome Mary," which was 
a big horn (siren), we were to take cover immediately and not 
to show any lights. About ten p. m. Mary began to wail. I 
could look off towards the lines, which were then at Dunkirk, 
and see anti-aircraft shells exploding in the air. Finally that 
stopped and an English Tommy said : "He's gotten through now ; 
you want to take cover." But he did not take cover himself ; so 
I figured it was safe enough for me. Finally we heard a whir- 
ring sound, which was Jerry's plane. Searchlights played on 
the sky, machine guns began to rattle, and anti-aircraft shells 
began to break overhead ; but Jerry got by, crossed the Chan- 

[ 90 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

nel, bombed Dover, came back and bombed the docks at Calais. 
While this was happening I imagined I was standing barefooted 
on a cake of ice, it being my first experience. After getting 
our fighting equipment, we were sent into Reserve with the Eng- 
lish behind Arras, which was a very hot front. Though only in 
Reserve, we were shelled by day and bombed by night. Tliis 
lasted one month ; then we got an opportunity to get that longed 
for look at Fritz. We were sent to relieve the 42nd Division at 
Lorraine. The 42nd had been making tilings hot for the Ger- 
mans on this Front, and we were just in time to get the surprise 
party the Huns manufactured for the 42nd. 

They came over at our First Battalion about four hundred 
strong. Our men had been warned by the French to pull back 
to the support line, but they wanted to stick and see just what 
the Germans really could do. All rules and regulations were set 
aside for awhile. The Germans used liquid fire, which only made 
things worse for them. Such a bloody battle followed that we 
had no trouble afterwards. The Germans kept behind their 
wire and we had things so quiet that we had target practice in 
the Front line. 

We left this nice sector to get into the second battle of the 
Marne, above Chateau Thierry. We took up the fight this side 
of the Vesle River, where we lost a great many men, but suc- 
ceeded in driving the Germans across and back to the Aisne. 
While advancing across a big open and level stretch of land, 
the Germans got the drop on us with their artillery. Shells 
were falling so rapidly and close together that we could not 
all be missed, and a great many were killed. To make things 
more pleasant for us, the German machine gun snipers were 
hidden all around, and every time a shell exploded they would 
open up. The noise was so great that I began to laugh and 
could not control myself. One of our men got behind a pile of 
boxes by the road. A shell made a direct hit on the boxes and 
a terrific explosion followed, as the boxes were full of Jerry hand 
grenades. We lost men right and left, but hei-e is where I had 
it proven to me that the American Army never retreats. We 
had taken the big city of Fismes that day and were now headed 

[ 91 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

for an equally large one a few kilos away. We had to lay 
under this shell fire all day, but as soon as night came and the 
Germans could not do any more damage with their Artillery, 
we resumed the advance, capturing a great many Germans that 
were doing outpost duty. We could not attack their main body, 
as our ranks were pretty well thinned out. The next day we 
were sent off to the right, where a big counter-attack was ex- 
pected. We took up a position where we were shelled from three 
sides with high and low explosive shells and gas mixed in. 
This was a trick of the Germans, thinking we would not recog- 
nize the gases (mustard, tear, phosgene and chlorine) from the 
burnt powder. The attack came off next morning at dawn, 
but on our left, a sector held by the French. We held this posi- 
tion for two days, then were relieved by an Italian Division. 
We had to double time for almost three kilos, after being relieved 
to get out of the range of Jerry's guns. We had a few heavy 
guns to back us up on this Front, and no airplanes. We hiked 
all that night and part of the next day, ending up in a 
deep woods, where they fed us some bacon and a cup of coffee. 

After a five days rest, we were taken to the Argonne Forest 
and our ranks refilled with men of the 40th Division, all Western 
boys and the kind that would not take a bluff, whether in a card 
game or in battle. They were fresh and well equipped, while 
we were played out and our clothes torn and full of cooties. 
Our bayonets and rifles were rusty, but we soon taught them all 
we had learned, which only amounted to giving them to under- 
stand that they were better men than the Germans, which they 
had suspected from the start. 

September 25 we went into the French front line of 1914 
(Hindenburg line), where we were constantly shelled with gas 
and high explosives. We had the biggest feed that night that 
I had come in contact with in all my previous time over. Each 
man had all the canned beans, tomatoes, jam, bacon, bread and 
coffee he wanted. We had just begun to get away with this feed 
when the Germans dropped so many gas shells nearby that 
the feast was spoiled and we had to don our gas masks. "War 

is H ." 

[ 92 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

About three o'clock that morning the Allied hundred mile 
barrage began to speak. In spite of the fact that I was wear- 
ing a gas mask I was happy. I knew this was to be the last 
drive. Just at dawn the order came to get at them. I felt grim 
and uneasy; but as Corporal had to go "over the top" ahead of 
my men. We met no opposition outside of shell fire, and after 
climbing and crawling through barbed wire for almost five hours 
we jumped into the German trenches all cut and scratched from 
the wire. The Germans had cleared out, much to our satisfaction. 
We cleaned up their dugouts as we went through. Three o'clock 
that afternoon our platoon got lost and while trying to get 
back to the main body walked into a machine gun nest. The 
dutchmen opened up. We dropped behind a clump of bushes. 
As we could not see them, it was impossible to get at them, 
and we were not equipped with rifle grenades or anything to 
meet that situation. I was sent out to find an opening in some 
wire on our left, which I discovered after much dodging and 
crawling. We got back to the main body and advanced a long 
way before striking opposition again. We cleaned up every- 
thing that got in our way and were relieved from the line when 
we were called out to help the 3rd Battalion of the 308th, who 
had advanced too far into a valley and were surrounded by the 
Germans. This happened at Depot Du Machins. We called it 
"Machine Gun Hill." We had to go into attack with our rifles 
onl}^ as it was impossible to use artillery. The terrain being 
too hilly, trench mortars were out of the question, as the bushes 
and trees were too dense. The thing we needed, but did not 
have in our Company, was rifle grenades. We got at them, but 
could not break tlirough that day, as they held a natural posi- 
tion, in fact it was one of Jerry's strong points in the Argonne. 
That night I had outpost duty. We dug in about 150 yards 
out from the main body. The Germans must have surmised 
that we would do this, as we had just gotten into our fox holes 
when a barrage of machine gun bullets and rifle grenades came 
over that cut down the bushes and covered us ^vith earth, but 
luckily did no other damage. After three days of hard fighting 
we finally drove them out and broke through with many losses, 

[ 93 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

but we had him on the run again and only his rear guard to 
fight. 

A few days later while advancing we struck a sunken road 
about midday. We halted here to enjoy a hearty meal. I was 
fortunate enough to have a slice of bread in my battle pack, and 
another fellow had some sugar, so we swapped and felt well fed. 
Half of the fellows had nothing, but they were only S. O. L. 
While eating we noticed that explosions were occurring quite 
frequently on the other side of the road. We thought at first 
they might be shells, but as we heard no guns, we knew they 
must be rifle grenades. The Lieutenant organized four patrols 
(Observation and Exploring) to go and find a narrow gauged 
R. R. and to see who was firing the rifle grenades. Being an 
Observation Patrol, our orders were not to fire except in self 
defense. We started and were greeted by rifle grenades and 
sniper bullets. I was fired on so often that I worked over to 
the patrol on my right to find out how they were getting along, 
and found that the Corporal was walking erect with his men 
and drawing fire. Just as I drew up to him he and his men 
dropped to the ground, none too soon, as a machine gun opened 
up and sprayed the ground where we lay. 

We reported back, told what we had discovered, and I was 
about to get back to my squad when the Corporal who had 
the patrol on my right told the Lieutenant that he could lead 
a patrol out and capture the Germans that were firing on us. 
I was the first one picked for this patrol. It was a case of 
volunteering, but if a man was picked and backed out, he 
would be labeled as "yellow" and a quitter. I knew this to be 
an impossible job, as the sun was shining bright, the ground 
was level and densely covered with bushes and trees. The Ger- 
man snipers were concealed in these bushes and could knock 
us off at their leisure. We went in a skirmish line. I was 
walking with the patrol leader when a shot rang out and he 
dropped dead. I was down to the ground in an instant and 
Ijeckoned to the men to get back under cover. We got back 
none too early, as a machine gun opened up and swept the 
ground where we had lain. It was impossible to get at the 

[ 94 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Germans as they were too well hidden. We had to report back 
minus a man. 

A week of hard fighting followed. One night we got through 
Jerry's lines in single file. We were inside before he discovered 
us, but it was too late. We sent back a great many prisoners 
and our Battalion took Grand Pre next morning. We were 
relieved the following night by the 78th. 

We left the lines happy though it was raining, the roads 
muddy, and we had not had a square meal for the past twenty- 
two days. We moved back into the forest about twenty-eight 
kilos from the lines and rested in some German billets for five 
days. We were shelled every night and lost some men, but 
we were resting (drilled every day) and fed up. They fed us 
on doughnuts, steaks, syrup and everything good. We were 
suspicious of this good treatment, as it was unusual. After the 
five days we were ordered back to the lines, where we went into 
the last drive (Meuse-Argonne). We were headed for Sedan. 
Some opposition greeted us on the start, but the rest was easy, 
compared with the Argonne and the Vesle. We had five meals 
in eleven days. 

The night before the Armistice took effect I was on outpost, 
stationed on a hill, which was really a high bank of the Meuse 
River. The Germans had worked down to their side of the river 
in the earlier hours of the evening and were sending up Very 
lights now and then to make sure we were not crossing the river 
under the cover of night. Following every Very light, machine 
guns would open up and spray the river and our bank. To our 
right and left we could see the sky reflecting big, dull red 
patches, which represented the French towns the Germans were 
burning to the ground as they fell back. We were constantly 
shelled during that night, but had no losses. At dawn we fell 
back with the main body. The fellows were talking about an 
Armistice that was to be signed ; and every time a German shell 
would break and throw shrapnel over our heads, they would 
say: "It certainly sounds as if they wanted an Armistice." 

The morning of November 11 all firing ceased. The fellows 
looked at each other, not daring to pass an opinion. Any man 

[ 95 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

mentioning that the Armistice had taken effect was laughed at. 
From experience we had learned that a sudden lull in firing 
means something big; so we were sort of bracing up and expect- 
ing anything. Finally, we were convinced, as a German band 
was playing; and behind us a French Division that was to 
relieve us was making merry in the town of Raecourt, all so full 
of wine that each one imagined he personally had won the war. 

That night we were drawn back to the town of Angecourt, 
where we were fed bacon and bread and slept in German billets. 
The next morning the French paraded through the town in honor 
of its capture. We pulled out that afternoon and started on 
a fourteen day hike. Thanksgiving day found us on the road 
with a fifteen minute stop for dinner, which was "bully beef" 
and hardtack. Some had canned beans and tomatoes. A great 
many could not stand this hard hiking and dropped along the 
road. 

After that long hike we reached our town. La Ferte sur Aube 
in the southern part of France, and were ordered to take six 
weeks of intensive training. I soon developed typhoid and was 
shipped to a Camp Hospital, where they made me stay in bed 
for one month. Then I was shipped from one Base Hospital to 
another, and finally sent home, a convalescent. 

After being examined by about fifty different doctors on this 
side, I was discharged at Camp Upton, April 24, 1919. Fol- 
lowing a two weeks' rest, I again entered the employ of the 
Hanover National Bank. 



WILLIAM J. GOOTH 

Born at Broohlyn, N. Y., July 19, 1895. 

Attended Public School No. 102 and Commercial High School 

of Brooklyn. Holder of American Institute of Banking 

Certificate. 

X N JULY, 1911, I entered the employ of the Gallatin National 
Bank, and later upon the merging of that institution with the 

[ 96 ] 




JOSEPH V. GATELY 



GEORGE A. GODINE 





ERNEST T. GOGOLL 



WILLIAM J. GOOTH 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Hanover National Bank, entered its employ. On December 7, 
1917, I enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force as a Yeoman, 
2nd Class, and reported for active duty December 10, 1917, in 
the Transportation Department of the Disbursing Office, Third 
Naval District. I was promoted to Yeoman, 1st Class, and to 
Chief Yeoman in October. During my service in the Navy I 
assisted the officer in charge of Officers' Overseas Transporta- 
tion, arranging for the transporting of Naval Officers to ships 
and shore stations in European waters. Qualified as a marks- 
man at the Naval Range. Upon receiving my discharge from 
service, I returned to the Hanover National Bank. 



ELMER A. F. HANSCOM 

Born at New York City, September 3, 1892. 

Attended Grammar School No. 87 and High School of Commerce, 
New York City. 

U PON leaving high school I started in my business career in 
the real estate business, after which I came with the Hanover 
National Bank. My first military duty was in Mexico under 
the National Guard, June 28 to October 25, 1916. When the 
National Guard was called out I was in the New York First 
Field Hospital, which later became the 105th Field Hospital. 
We were first sent to Spartanburg and at that place the National 
Guard lost its identity and became federalized. We remained at 
Spartanburg until May, 1918, and after a short stay at New- 
port News our regiment was ordered Overseas. When I was 
called to the Front, I had been promoted to Corporal. 

The following interesting letters were received from Mr. 
Hanscom: He writes under date of October 4, 1918: "I've 
been in two big stunts so far, one in Belgium and one in France. 
In fact I've just come back from the line and believe that we are 
due for another rest. The best part of being attached to Storm- 
ing troops is you only go into the line for a few days at a time. 
We just go in and take our objective, and then turn it over to 

[ 97 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

other troops to hold, and go back and wait for the next stunt to be 
pulled. This also gives one a great opportunity to travel about. 
So far I've been in about twenty-five towns or cities and through 
many more. Of course, all of our traveling is done in cattle 
cars, but that is all in the game. The ambulance boys are all 
good fellows and we generally get a car or two for ourselves and 
have a jolly good time traveling about. The *Austies' (Austral- 
ians) to whom we are attached now are also all good fellows and 
good fighters too. In Belgium, I found out what it was like 
to ride in an ambulance without any lights. The only light you 
get while driving is that from the flare of the big guns and 
you enjoy a beautiful bump whenever you hit a shell hole. Now 
I am supposed to be an expert on gas cases and that is all I 
handle except when there is a rush on and the gas cases are 
light, I work at dressing wounds. I don't think that *Jerry' 
cares a lot about the Red Cross because at Villers Faucon he 
shelled us twice. Believe me, it's some sensation to hear the shrap- 
nel hitting on the iron roof of the building where you are dressing 
patients. I've seen shrapnel come right through the operating 
hut. I had to stop writing for a few minutes — the whistle 
blew three times — a signal that 'Jerry' was overhead. If he 
saw a light shining from our sandbagged hut he might drop 
an 'iron foundry' down on us. Well, so much for the Belgium 
stunt. 

"Now I'll tell you of the stunt we just came out of. The 
'Austies' say it will go down as the greatest battle in history. 
To get there, we had to go through several towns that 'Jerry' 
had been in only a few days before. I thought I had seen 
ruins in Belgium. Up here nothing was left of towns but a 
mass of powdered brick. A sign stuck up in the ruins usually 
gave the name of the town that once stood there. Forests were 
lowered to the ground, big trees being snappd in two by shells 
hitting them. I'll say that 'Jerry' knows how to dig in be- 
cause while at the front I lived in a dugout he just left a few 
days previously. It was a peach, we found beds in it and an 
open fireplace so we were very comfortable, that is when we had 
time to sleep, a thing we got very little time for. I worked for 

[ 98 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

three days and three nights without getting a wink of sleep. 
My greatest experience was when I went out to a shell hole about 
two miles in front of the advanced dressing station to get the 
body of a chum of mine who was killed while observing. I had 
a couple of other boys with me at the time 'Jerry' threw every- 
thing he had over, the shells hitting the ground would send a 
shower of mud and dirt all around. One shell passed so close 
that the wind of it raised our helmets off the back of our heads 
and shoved them down over our faces. Well, we got the body 
and you bet we were all glad when we got back to the A. D. S. 
again. One night while we were working on the wounded the 
dirty 'Hun' kept on throwing gas shell after gas shell over at 
us. He respects nothing at all." 

In a letter addressed to his parents, from St. Corneille, France, 
dated December 4, 1918, Corporal Hanscom writes: 

"On June 30, our unit left the United States on the U. S. S. 
Huron, which was formerly Freidrich der Grosse, the ship on 
which the Kaiser himself once traveled round the world. Twice 
on the way over, we were attacked by submarines but on each 
occasion we sunk the U-boat, once with a depth bomb and the 
other with gun fire from one of the cruisers convoying us 
across. You see I've been in naval battles as well as land 
battles. On July 13, 1918, we landed at Brest, France, and 
were quartered in the Pontanezen Barracks which were built 
in 1413, and which were also used by Napoleon. On July 23, 
we left via cattle cars and arrived in Rouen on the following 
day. . . . We then proceeded to Calais, about a day and night's 
journey from Rouen, in cattle cars. . . . On August 1 arrived 
at a town called Arneke, from there we proceeded to Ouedzeele 
via motor trucks, or lorries, as they are called over here. We 
arrived just at dark and could hear the noise of the guns and see 
the shrapnel bursting. 'Jerry' also paid us a visit this night, 
coming over in his planes and dropping a few bombs, but none 
of them landed near enough to hurt any of us. He came over 
every night and dropped his young iron foundries but never 
injured one of our men. We stayed there about three weeks 
and during this time I visited several towns in Belgium and 

[ 99 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

France, as we were only 15 miles from the Belgium border. 
August 22, we received orders to move into Belgium and take 
over a dressing station on the Ypres front. After a fifteen kilo 
hike, we came to our dressing station at a place called Renny 
Siding. . . . Our unit was not to start working until the 
next day as the English Tommies were doing all the work. We 
were asleep only half an hour though, when there came a whiz 
over the shed in which we were and a bang that woke everybody 
up. This increased every minute until one hit so close that the 
shrapnel hit all over our roof. He was getting too close so we 
went down into the dugouts and stayed there until he quieted 
down. It was our first real taste of shell fire and none of us 
were afraid to admit the next morning that we were a bit scared. 
At this place, I had charge of treating the gas cases and I 
worked; one night, I had about two hundred go through my 
hands. When the gas cases were light, I helped out in the 
operating hut. While here, our boys pulled off the Mt. Kem- 
mel stunt by flanking the mountain and forcing 'Jerry' to evacu- 
ate. We were green and we beat the Prussian Guard (the 
Kaiser's best) who faced us. . . . Ever since then we have 
been either shock or storm troops. On September 5, we were 
taken out of the line again and sent to a place in France called 
Beauvais to rest. Here we ran a sick hospital while the infantry 
practised with the tanks, getting ready for the great Hinden- 
burg stunt. 

"On September 24, we left Beauvais, and on the 26th, the unit 
went on to Villers Fau9on where we established a dressing sta- 
tion preparing for the Hindenburg stunt that every one knew 
was coming off, in a day or so. . . . On September 29, a 
beautiful Sunday morning, the New York Guard broke through 
with the Australians. While we were working over the wounded 
here, the Germans kept on shelling us regularly. One night he 
threw over several gas shells at us. We worked day and night 
during this stunt, and I remember not going down in our dug- 
out to sleep for two nights during this time. On October 1, we 
went back to Courelles for a four days' rest and to get our ranks 
filled up again, and then went back in again and chased him from 

[ 100 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Bellicourt to the Selle River and across it a distance of thirty 
miles. This stunt lasted for about twenty days. I was working 
at a walking wounded station during this period, and it was the 
day after we were relieved that I was taken back to the C. C. S., 
a sort of dressing station, in an ambulance from this station. 
I was loaded on a big hospital train and sent to Rouen, twelve 
hours from the front. At this place, I came near passing away 
one night, but I came through it all right, probably it was your 
praying that saved me. From there, I was sent to Trouville on 
the coast of France. Here I got better fast, and was soon 
up and around and had several good times while I was con- 
valescing. After I was discharged from the convalescent camp 
at Trouville, I started riding in cattle cars again and went to 
an American Supply Base at Saleaux where I stayed two days 
and was re-equipped. From here, I joined my company at 
Corbie after a thirty kilo hike. This was on November 22. On 
the 26th, we left Corbie and arrived at this place, St. Corneille, 
on the following day, and now we are awaiting orders to leave 
for home." 

Upon leaving the service I resumed my duties with the Hanover 
National Bank. 



GEORGE HARDENBERGH, Jk. 

Born at Brooklyn, New York, August 9, 1893. 
Attended Public School No. 16 and Commercial School. 



E= 



JNLISTED June 16, 1917, in New York City, was called to 
Camp November 7 and took up training at Camp Jackson, 
Columbia, S. C. I was made a Corporal in December, 1917; 
Sergeant in April, 1918. Our course of instruction lasted until 
July 11 of the following year. I reached Camp Upton, L. I., 
on July 12 and sailed for France on the 14th. Thirteen vessels 
were in the convoy and after thirteen days sailing we sighted 
submarines off the coast of Ireland. Expert gunners succeeded 

[ 101 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

in sinking one submarine with no damage to any of the trans- 
ports. The same day we lost our escort of destroyers but they 
found us again in the afternoon. We landed at Liverpool toward 
evening. Hiked to a rest camp and left by train the following 
morning for Southampton. Crossed the English channel, heav- 
ily convoyed by destroyers, submarines and dirigibles, and 
reached La Havre, France, in safety. Received some army 
rations and journeyed over France in box cars for three days, 
arriving at Pierrefaite to take up training in open warfare. A 
few weeks here and orders changed, bringing us to a large French 
town named Clamecy. Here we finished our training, and the 
latter part of September, 1918, we left for the fighting line. 
We reached Peronne, which had very recently been a scene of 
terrible fighting; while a little farther on a heavy bombardment 
was taking place. A call came for replacements and I left my 
old outfit and was transferred to the 27th Division, and took up 
duties with the 102nd Signal Battalion. On September 25 to 
27 we took over the positions occupied by the 74th and 18th 
British Divisions. This was opposite the outpost positions of the 
Hindenburg Line and included points known as the Knoll, Guille- 
mont Farm and Quennemont Farm. The British made three 
attacks on these points, but without success, and their losses 
totalled eighty per cent of the attacking forces. At great sacri- 
fice these defences were taken and the Hindenburg wall was laid 
bare. It was the Rock of Gibraltar of the German morale. On 
the morning of September 29 the big guns started the boom of 
the barrage and before night set in the Line was broken and the 
St. Quentin Canal was taken. "Old Hindy's heart was busted," 
and Prince Ruppert's army was in flight. From here on events 
happened very quickly, and always in our favor. The three 
final battles took place at St. Souplet on October 17, Jonc de 
Mer Ridge, October 18, and St. Maurice River October 19 and 
20, which marked the closing of the war, as far as we were con- 
cerned. We hiked to Corbie for a rest and while making prepa- 
rations for a return to the front, the Armistice was signed. 
After a few months of anxious waiting we arrived at Brest; 
sailed from there March 2, 1919, and arrived in Brooklyn 

[ 102 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

March 15, 1919. Mustered out of Service at Camp Upton on 
April 4, 1919. 



CHARLES P. HART 

Born at Paterson, N. J., April 28, 1891. 
Attended Public Schools of Paterson, N. J. 



I 



WAS drafted March 30, 1918, and sent to Camp Dix, N. J. 
Having had no previous military experience, life at the canton- 
ment to me was very unusual and interesting. After going 
through routine preliminary steps in a depot brigade, I was per- 
manently assigned to Company F, 303d Engineers, a combat 
regiment and Divisional Engineers of the 78th Division, with 
which I served for the duration of the war. 

On May 26, 1918, we sailed for France from New York, ar- 
riving via Liverpool June 10, 1918. Then our hikes started, 
and believe me, I think we hiked all over France with rifle and 
full pack. The load complete weighed about sixty-five pounds, 
and when you have toted on for three consecutive dark rainy 
nights over rough roads and covered sixty-seven miles, you feel 
as if you had been hiking. 

Our first job in France was to build a Rifle Range for target 
practice, near Boulogne. It was completed in about a week ; 
and from there we hiked to a place called Oudezeele, in the 
vicinity of Ypres. At this place we were engaged in building 
reserve trenches, stringing barbed- wire and building pill boxes. 
We were fairly close to the front. While there an observation 
party went up to the front lines and, unfortunately, a sergeant 
in my company was killed and a major was wounded pretty 
badly. This was our first real taste of the war game; here 
during the day-time everything was quiet and peaceful enough, 
but the nights were entirely different, for the big guns, shells, 
and airplanes were everybody's nightmare. 

Our next stop was St. Pol, railhead for the Arras sector. 
At this place we terminated our connection with the British 

[ 103 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

instructors, a detachment of the 18th Northumberland Fusilliers, 
and also finished our training. We were glad to leave for the 
American front the latter part of August, via the famous "40 
Hommes, 8 Chevaux" route, for a little town called Barges, 
below Chaumont, where we finally arrived after a three day ride, 
all cramped up and full of "corned willy" and hard tack. 

September 12 found the 78th Division in immediate reserve 
on the St. Mihiel front, and we witnessed the opening of that 
wonderful American drive. In a few days our division took over 
a sector on this front, in the vicinity of Thiaucourt. While 
there we did all kinds of engineering work ; building and repair- 
ing roads; throwing up a few small bridges; stringing and 
cutting wire on "No Man's Land" at night. I had my share 
of everything except clerical work. Our First Battalion suf- 
fered a number of casualties at St. Mihiel. 

On October 5, 1918, we left St. Mihiel for the Argonne, arriv- 
ing there after a hike taking two nights. The engineers located 
near a town called Chatel Chehery, in the vicinity of Grand 
Pre, and were kept busy in preparation for the Meuse-Argonne 
smash. I worked as a runner during this drive, and at times I'U 
say it was a mighty lively sort of job. We lost some more men 
at engineering work, one of the jobs being the building of twenty 
odd light and heavy traffic bridges over the Aire River, approach- 
ing Grand Pre. The Division was finally relieved on Novem- 
ber 6, after advancing about twenty-one kilometers, and we 
came out of the lines for good. The news of November 11, 1918, 
was mighty welcome, and later it felt great to get back in Camp 
Dix and out of the army by June 12, 1919, without being 
wounded. At the time of my discharge I was Corporal in Com- 
pany F, 303d Engineers, 78th Division, A. E. F. 



[ 104 ] 




E. A. F. HANSCOM 



GEORGE HARDENBERGH 




CHARLES P. HART 



A. G. HAUSMAXN 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

A. G. HAUSMANN 
Born at New York City, March 12, 1893. 
Attended Public and High Schools; graduate Princeton Univer- 



1 FIRST came to the Hanover Bank in 1911, spending a sum- 
mer vacation as runner for the Note Teller. From then on I 
spent ray summers and even several Christmas vacations under 
the guidance and tutelage of such famous men as Livingston, 
MacPhail, Hammond and Negles in the Coupon Department. 
Meanwhile, I had successfully navigated the troublesome years 
of college life, and with my diploma in hand had faced the world 
and landed a job as athletic coach and school teacher. I spent 
several years in Missouri, and a few months in Indiana. 

The draft caUed me in September, 1917, but I was not sent 
to Camp until February 26, 1918, and so missed a hard winter 
of Army life. I spent my rookie days in the 310th Infantry, 
and was then transferred to the 308th Machine Gun Battalion. 
I sailed for sunny France early in May, 1918; and outside of a 
submarine scare on the last day, the trip was uncomfortable and 
uneventful. On board with us was Ray Schmitz, whom I was 
destined to meet again at Officers' Training School at Langres. 
My twelve months in France were punctuated by four differ- 
ent Army School courses, lasting from one to sii weeks; and 
a good part of the time while our Division was doing the fighting 
I was back in the S. O. S. learning how to be a shave-tail. I 
was quite weary of Army Schools, which did not stop even after 
the signing of the Armistice. We spent several months behind 
the British lines when we first went across and those were really 
our "golden" days. Of course, we hiked and slept in the rain and 
grumbled in unison; but in looking back, I find my most cherished 
remembrances of that period. At the end of August we came 
down, and after camping in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains 
we went into the lines during the St. Mihiel drive. Here I left 
my old battalion and so many of my friends, for when I came 
back the first of November into the Argonne Forest I was sent 

[ 105 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

to another battalion. We were all sorry that we were not 
chosen to go into Germany with the Army of Occupation. It 
surely would have been more interesting than the life of waiting 
which we had been leading. After the signing of the Armistice, 
we spent a very restless six months south of Paris. Of course 
we enjoyed our leaves, of which I had my share. I managed 
to see a good deal of France, the sunny part of France as well 
as the larger cities, visiting Paris, Dijon, Lyon, Marseilles, Nice, 
Monte Carlo, Mentone and other famous leave centers. On my 
return I went to Semur, where I partook of a week's course in 
Equitation. When it was not raining, the country was very 
picturesque and riding was one of the chief means of recreation. 
The winter was mild but very rainy, although we were billeted 
quite comfortably. On our return to the States we stopped 
for three days at Oran, Algeria, where we marvelled at the 
Mohammedan customs and Oriental displays. We greeted the 
good old Statue of Liberty on May 10, 1919, and three days 
later I was shaking hands again with my old friends in the 
Hanover Bank. 

I hope this experience doesn't sound egotistical. I feel any- 
thing but that, and realize how little my bit was in this war; 
but it is hard to write an account in the first person and try to 
give a fair account. 



WALTER HERBERT HEADWELL 

Born at Brooldyn, N. Y., October 3, 1895. 

Attended Public School and High School of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
One year at Columbia, studying Banking. 



I 



ENTERED the employ of the Hanover National Bank May 
27, 1918. When I entered the Army, I served with Company D, 
1st Battalion, Chemical Warfare Section. After one month at 
Camp Upton I was ordered to Edgewood Arsenal, Edgewood, 
where I was detailed for duty in Cost Accounting. I accom- 
panied the Company on its usual hikes, went through Manual 

[ 106 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

of Arms and was drilled daily. Chemicals and dangerous gases 
were manufactured at Edgewood Arsenal, and those engaged in 
this branch of the service ran a very great risk. 

After a month's stay at Upton, going through the rudiments 
of the makings of a doughboy, came the day of breaking camp 
for an embarkation point. But instead we were ordered to 
Edgewood Arsenal for the duration of the war. Arriving, we 
found a reservation of 300 acres enclosed by wire fencing and 
at every gateway men with fixed bayonets, and along the fence 
mounted police were marching their post in military manner. 
Experts were sent from England and France to instruct us in 
Gas Warfare. A month of training is essential before entering 
the gas chamber, and knowledge of the gas mask is passed upon 
by several officers ; for, in Gas Warfare there are two kinds — 
the Quick and the Dead. For example, a pin-hole in the tube 
or face fabric would cause life impairment, resulting in con- 
sumption, insanity, blindness or gradual eating of the body. 
Here are some of the gases produced in these cylindrical towers 
and buildings of peculiar natures. Phosgene, gives a choking 
effect actuating instantly ; Chlorine, agonizing and slow ; Tear, 
blinding; Vomiting, so the mask cannot be worn, thereby the 
other gases actuating; Mustard, eating of the lungs and throat. 
All these tend to weaken the mind. Then the dread M. O. 
(Mustard Oil), never known when you come in contact with it 
as it takes effect hours later. Just a vapor in the air can burn 
your body deep and spreading. A drop of the smallest bit 
may cause loss of finger, etc. The fatalities here are greater 
than those in the first line trenches for the boys have suffered 
and endured, many paying the supreme sacrifice without honor 
or glory. They could not go across, but those who return to 
their homes can rest in the assurance that they contributed the 
winning factor of the greatest war. 

I was mustered out of the service February 7, 1919, and re- 
entered the service of the Hanover National Bank. 



[ 107 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

H. J. HUTH 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., July 21, 1895. 
Attended Public School No. 81, New York City. 

JT RIOR to mj entry into the service of Uncle Sam, I was em- 
ployed by the Hanover National Bank as a clerk in the Note 
Teller's Department, and later in the Foreign Exchange Depart- 
ment, entering the employ of the Bank January 13, 1912, and 
resigning September 21, 1917. 

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, September 23, 1917, when 
with my little red card I walked from my home at 1815 Catalpa 
Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., with a neatly prepared package under 
my arm, containing toilet articles, etc., and surrounded by my 
family and friends proceeded to the assembling place. Local 
Board No. 79, about fifteen minutes walk from home, ready for 
camp. It was then almost nine o'clock when I answered to my 
first roll call and listened to a few preliminary instructions. 
Amid shouts of good luck and continuous cheering from the 
gathered crowds of people the automobiles arrived which car- 
ried us to the railroad station, where we boarded a train for 
the well known Camp called "Upton," arriving there about 2 :30 
p. M. I was assigned to Company G, 307th Infantry, a dough- 
boy ; but from the start I was nothing more than a common 
laborer from morning, noon, until night. This so termed 
"Manual Labor" continued for more than six weeks before we 
received any Infantry drill instructions. Things went along 
quite smoothly until they started to issue guns and gas masks, 
particularly the latter — how I detested them ! All the latest 
methods of warfare were taught us. Rain or shine we drilled, 
from sunrise to sunset ; and very often after drilling all day 
we had night hikes over the frozen ground and through the 
forest, for the winter of 1917 wasn't anything too pleasant. 

About the 10th of February I was instructed to report to 
Divisional Headquarters, where a short verbal examination fol- 
lowed regarding my clerical experience and work. Several days 
later I was transferred from Company G, 307th Infantry, to 

[ 108 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

an Overseas Casual Company in the same Camp. After a num- 
ber of inspections both physical and equipment, we left Camp 
Upton for Camp Merritt, N. J., arriving there about March 
2, minus guns and gas masks, and known as a "bullet proof 
organization — -the pen pushers." The morning of March 14, 
1918, at two A. M. through a drizzling rain and fog, we marched 
from Camp to the railroad station, bound for Hoboken, N. J. 
Exactly at 10:15 a. m. we boarded one of the Kaiser's favorite 
boats, Kronprinzessin Irene, but baptized Pocahontas, and I was 
assigned to a bunk far below in the bottom of the ship, the last 
hold in the far corner, with the steel plates of the ship to my 
left, packed away like a lot of sardines with hardly enough 
room to move about. We set sail at 5:15 p. m. March 14, and 
only when the good old U. S. A. was far from view were we per- 
mitted on deck, with only the great blue ocean to gaze upon. 
For twelve days we sailed, encountering rough weather and rain, 
and all through the entire voyage I was detailed as K. P. The 
chow was exceptionally good and plentiful. Aside from abandon 
ship drill, nothing of importance occurred. Finally we sighted 
land, the evening of March 26, and landed at the Port of St. 
Nazaire, March 27, the first leg of our journey for democracy 
completed. 

The order was issued by our C. O. to get ready to debark, 
and with packs on our shoulders we marched off the boat. It 
was a very warm day and the perspiration was streaming from 
my pores very freely after hiking three miles to an English Rest 
Camp. The barracks where we were stationed for five days 
were very poorly constructed — for it rained almost continuously 
for three days — and the roof, which was covered with tar paper, 
had seen better days, for our cots were almost swimming away. 

On April 1, 1918, I left St. Nazaire, marching again to the 
railroad station, destination being Blois. In place of a Pullman 
car for traveling it was a box car, "40 men or 8 horses," arriv- 
ing at Blois the following morning very weary and filthy. Blois 
was a Casual Camp where all troops and officers casuals were 
sent for assignment. After spending five days there I was or- 
dered to report to the C. 0. at Tours for work, together with 

[ 109 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

fifty other men. This trip was by third class coaches, no box 
cars. Two days later I was assigned to the Second Company 
Headquarters Branch and quartered in an old French cavalry 
stable, but on detached service with the Postal Express service. 
My first duties were in connection with the shipping of express 
and Christmas packages sent from the U. S. A., year 1917. The 
warehouse where I was working was located about two and one- 
half miles outside of Tours, known as St. Pierre des Corps. Due 
to poor facilities for loading and shipping, in many instances 
the unpacking of a whole day's work and repacking due to the 
sudden changes of the different American Units to which we 
were endeavoring to establish delivery, it was quite a task trying 
to dispatch 140,000 boxes and packages weighing from five to 
three hundred pounds. We did finally complete the work, 
July 6. 

My next duties were along a different line. The Courier Ser- 
vice was then established throughout the A. E. F. I was ap- 
pointed Sergeant in charge with a force of ten men for the Tours 
area. This service handled only letters and parcels of highly 
important and confidential nature, which could not ordinarily 
be transmitted by wire or telephone. Courier routes had already 
been established, but greatly improved upon. Heretofore this 
same service was a "Trust-to-God" affair. A hand to hand 
receipt system was put into operation to prevent letters from 
going astray, or being lost in transit. Trains, motorcycles, 
and automobiles were used by the couriers along the various 
routes. I was relieved from duty with the Courier Service 
April 1, 1919, and transferred to the Overseas Courier and 
Express Service at Brest. This service handled only couriers 
plying between Washington, D. C, and France. 

Was relieved from duty with the last mentioned Organization 
and returned to the U. S. A. as an Assistant Overseas Courier. 
Left Brest May 9, aboard the JJ. S. S. Mt. Vernon, formerly the 
K. P. Cecilie. My return trip was First Class passage, no hold. 
Arrived at Hoboken May 17, 1919, and proceeded to Washing- 
ton, D. C, reporting upon arrival to the Embarkation Officer 
for discharge. Was sent to Camp Meigs, Washington, D. C, 

[ 110 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

on May 20, and received my final papers on May 23 at 
4 :30 p. M. — exactly one year and eight months service. Was 
also awarded a Meritorious Service Certificate for work behind 
the lines, known as the Services of Supplies. 



JOHN WESLEY JOHNSTON 

Born at Jamaica, L. I., November 6, 1896, 
Attended Jamaica High School. 

J UNE 29, 1914, I entered the Hanover National Bank and 
was there employed until September 3, 1918, when I was called 
to the Colors, entraining for Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., on 
the same day. I was assigned to the Insurance and Allotment 
Section of the Personnel Office, which office takes care of the 
insurance and allotments of the men at the Camp. There were 
about eighty thousand men at the Camp at that time. We had 
to take care of all the details in connection with the insurance of 
the men in the service by the Government, if they so desired, sub- 
ject to the Government plan. Our Department also took care 
of the remittances to the families of the men. From Camp 
Gordon I was transferred to Camp McClellan, Anniston, Ala., 
in the same line of work. I made application for the Central 
Officers' Training Camp at Camp Gordon, Atlanta. I was later 
assigned to the Finance Department, Camp McClellan. Being 
promoted to Sergeant, I was transferred to the 437th Reserve 
Labor Battalion, which Battalion held men in reserve for extra 
service at the Camp. I was mustered out March 14, 1919, and 
returned to the Hanover National Bank. 



[ 111 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 



GEORGE E. KELK 



Born at New YorJc City, March 5, 1890. 
* ' Attended Public School No. 13, and the College of the City of 

New York. 



A 



T the age of sixteen I obtained a position as office boy in 
Wall Street. At twenty-one was appointed clerk in the Tax 
Office of the Bronx, which position I held until accepted as a 
bookkeeper by the Hanover National Bank. I enlisted in the 
U. S. Naval Reserve Force on April 1, 1918, and was sent to 
the Training Camp at New Haven for a short time. Was then 
assigned to the U. S. Cruiser New Orleans and made several 
trips on this vessel as convoy to Halifax, also to the coast of 
Ireland. Was later promoted to the position of Captain of 
the Gun Crew and transferred to the U. S. Cargo ship 
Alloway. I served on the Alloway until she was turned over to 
the Shipping Board. I was seventeen months in the Navy. I 
was on board the U. S. S. Rondo when she delivered the first cargo 
of grain at Hamburg. I was discharged from the service August 
1, 1919, and returned to the Hanover National Bank. 

EDWARD W. J. KOCH 

Born at Union, N. J., March 13, 1891. 

Attended Night High School and Eagan Business College. 
Graduate of American Institute of Banking. 



F 



IGURATIVELY speaking, "the pen ceased to be mightier 
than the sword" to me on the morning of May 28, 1918, at which 
time I was inducted into the Army, in the Municipal Building 
of Union Hill, N. J., going from there by rail to Camp Dix, 
N. J. If the train trip to the cantonment camp was to be any 
criterion of my future military career, a rather lively one was 
in store for me, as a stabbing affair took place on board, in 
which two men received serious knife cuts. 

On arriving at camp, was assigned to the 44th Depot Brigade, 

[ 112 ] 




WALTER H. HEADWELL 



HERMAN HUTH 




J. W. JOHNSTON 



GEORGE E. KELK 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Eleventh Company, and was later placed with the 312th Engi- 
neers, Company C of the 87th Division. The regiment was con- 
sidered one of the best, the division having been formed at Camp 
Pike, Arkansas, and was composed of the national army of 
Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. From the last-named 
state it received its nickname, "Acorn Division." Many west- 
ern as well as eastern boys were later assigned to it. 

After extensive training in dots and dashes, wire intrench- 
ments, demolition work, pontoon bridge building, and pioneer 
engineering, orders to move across the "big pond" were received. 
During the night of August 23 and 24, 1918, like an Arabian, 
we silently folded our tents and disappeared into the night, go- 
ing by train to Jersey City and ferry boats to the Cunard Steam- 
ship Line Piers, New York City, boarding the S. S. Caronia at 
the break of day. Some five thousand were on board, including 
the divisional General. The troops were quartered in sections 
below deck, and breathing space was rather limited. 

The following day, August 25, in company with several other 
transports we started on our journey. As we steamed down the 
bay, passing the Statue of Liberty, a naval craft semaphored 
"Good Luck" ; Sandy Hook disappeared over the horizon shortly 
after. 

The convoy consisted of eighteen vessels, most of which were 
transports. The fleet was well protected on all sides, by de- 
stroyers and a dreadnought showing us the way. A large dirig- 
ible flying overhead kept its eagle eye on the water for a sub- 
marine. Strung out in football formation, the boats were about 
a mile apart. 

Part of the morning was taken up with emergency drills, after 
which the men were permitted on deck, but restricted from 
throwing anything overboard. The mere presence of a piece 
of paper in the water would give the ever watchful U-boat 
commander a clue that a ship had been in the immediate vicinity 
recently. All port holes were kept closed, except when opened 
for ventilation purposes, at which time a sailor was stationed 
near by. The use of matches after dark or the wearing of 
phosphorus wrist watches were forbidden. Talking only in 

[ 113 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

undertones was permitted. The ship at night resembled phan- 
toms, especially when the moon shone in the heavens. After be- 
ing out several days, most of our protectors returned to port, 
only the dreadnought and two destroyers completing the trip. 

Many of the men passed dull time away playing African 
billiards (dice), others found reading more wholesome. For 
those who enjoyed good music, the 312th Engineers Band gave 
excellent concerts, but only in the daytime. If weather condi- 
tions permitted, many of the boys slept on deck, preferring this 
to swinging from the ceiling in hammocks like birds, at high aivd 
low altitude. Personally, I did not mind the method of sleep- 
ing, using my life preserver as a pillow, nor did the strong smell 
that permeated our sleeping quarters interfere with my night's 
rest. 

From time to time while on deck men would imagine seeing a 
periscope, but on closer investigation, the object turned out to 
be a piece of wood, or, in many cases, only an optical illusion. 
The interior of the ship was well guarded, each company taking 
turn furnishing the guard of two hundred men. On the top deck 
thirty more men were stationed as lookouts, doing "watchful 
waiting" work for Mr. Von Tirpitz. The men were on for two 
hours and then relieved. 

Eleven days out and still no sight of "real estate." VV^e were 
now entering the submarine zone. Life preservers had to be 
kept on, and securely adjusted at all times. Men were not per- 
mitted to undress when retiring for the night. Early next morn- 
ing smoke on the horizon proved to be our English convoy, which 
numbered about twenty-five destroyers. As these boats darted 
in and out, "nary a thought of submarines entered our minds, 
now." Our English cousins showed us the way into the Irish 
Sea. On the morning of September 4, 1918, land was sighted, 
later proving to be the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. What 
a pretty sight it was too ! A milkmaid a-riding on a cart, travel- 
ing along a road on the hillside in Ireland, plainly visible to the 
eye, added to the beauty. Very little of Scotland could be 
distinguished, aside from its hilly and rocky coast. The color 
of the water had changed from the ocean blue to a pretty light 

[ 114 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

green. With all its surrounding prettiness, the spot was said 
to be most dangerous for ships. The presence of a dirigible 
added to the precautions taken. Bright and early on the morn- 
ing of September 5 we dropped anchor at Liverpool, after an 
uneventful journey of thirteen days, debarking shortly after 
and proceeding to the railroad station for transportation to 
some camp. The English Red Cross and the city of Liverpool 
gave us a warm reception. Our train ride from Liverpool to Win- 
chester made several stops, giving us a chance to see a little 
of the cities of Birmingham, Oxford, Manchester and Stratford, 
England, arriving at Winchester at twelve o'clock midnight. 
The city was pitch dark on account of air raids. Hiking in 
formation was rather tedious. 

After a good night's rest, we were ready to get our first 
glimpse of the British Army. Our wishes were gratified when 
a platoon of soldiers came out for drilling. On closer observa- 
tion, we discovered them to be a sort of official burial squad for 
the camp. In addition to this camp being known as Winches- 
ter, it also had the name of Moin Hill. Very carefully practic- 
ing their ceremony, the men trained. The rites consisted of 
sixteen to twenty men, eight of which acting as mourners with- 
out arms, the others forming the firing squad. With guns 
reversed, the procession started for the supposed open grave, 
stopping the eight, or, as we nicknamed them, "Joy killers," 
gotten from the expression on their faces, proceeded to a posi- 
tion before the grave. The firing squad took a position nearer. 
On command of the sergeant in charge, rifles are placed with 
the barrel end touching the ground, both hands are then clasped 
and laid on the gun. Another command sends all heads down, 
as if in prayer, or deep meditation. 

After a stay of several days, we were again on the move, 
going direct to Southampton by train, arriving there early 
on the morning of September 8 prepared to sail for France. On 
board the S. S. Harvard the 312th went, and when darkness 
fell, we started our journey across the channel unprotected. 
The steamer Harvard was the same boat that at one time 
operated between the ports of Boston and New York. Weather 

[ 115 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

conditions were favorable and we dropped anchor near tlie city 
of La Havre, France; the following morning, ten o'clock, found 
us marching down the gang plank onto the soil of France, where 
we were accorded another warm reception by the people. A 
parade through the city followed, going from there to a rest 
camp located about five miles outside the city. Passing through 
a little town a rather amusing incident happened. The town's 
mayor or high official presented the colonel of the regiment with 
a bouquet of flowers, and by mistake another to the drum major 
of the band that marched directly in back of the commander. 

Arriving at Rest Camp No. 1 which had been the scene of an 
air raid just previous to our entrance in which a number of sol- 
diers were killed and wounded, we were assigned to squad tents. 
Ordinarily these tents accommodated eight men; our entrance 
made it necessary that they hold twelve. While on kitchen 
police, meaning kitchen work, an accident happened that might 
have resulted seriously. The contact of a coat with the trigger 
of a loaded gun, fired the rifle, sending the bullet crashing into 
the woodwork of the kitchen, narrowly missing the men working 
nearby and coming too close for comfort to me. It was our 
turn to make another move in the army game of checkers. 
Leaving the rest, or, as called by us, restless camps, on the morn- 
ing of September 10, bound for the town of Pons, we were put 
up in billets. The trip was made by rail, and such a trip as it 
was ! The cars were smaller than our freight cars, resembling 
our scenic railway cars. Some had straw on the floor, others 
a bench or two. In sleeping the men slept spoon formation. In 
lying down to sleep it was the policy "All down at once." On 
every car was printed the sign "40 Hommes, 8 chevaux," trans- 
lated in English it means forty men or eight horses is the car's 
capacity. A two day ride in these French Specials made one 
realize that the human body is composed of many bones and 
muscles, also that sleep is an essential thing, as well as the fact 
that straw may at times contain many undesirable citizens. 

The town of Pons resembled the usual southern French towns ; 
a church, several hotels and cafe, several stores, and on its 
outskirts vineyards. All the buildings are made of stone and 

[ 116 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

look very old. Our entrance in the town created considerable 
excitement, as we were the first American soldiers to be billeted 
there. In company of some two hundred men it was my good 
fortune to be assigned to live in a former hospital building, where 
the rats were not so numerous or the holes in the roof very many. 
Our bed the first nights consisted of a blanket, pair of shoes and 
our best friend the mess kit. The last two named objects being 
used as a pillow. It did not take the boys long to become 
acquainted with many of the town's pretty girls. A rather 
amusing instance happened one evening, while several of us fel- 
lows were sitting on the doorsteps of our billet. One of the boys 
used to visit a pretty girl who lived down the road, taking a 
stroll, passed our abode in company of the lady, also her mother 
as well as three younger sisters and brothers. The rascal intro- 
duced us, giving to us the names of some great men. Poor 
Lincoln was gotten out of his grave, Grant had to stand up 
and salute once more, and George Washington broke his record 
for not telling falsehoods. If my memory serves me correctly, 
I was given the name of President Wilson. To all, the French 
ladies would bow most profusely. 

Training was immediately started in earnest for the front 
lines for our division was slated to take over a sector November 
15. Ten mile hikes with heavy packs were taken every day. 
Perhaps it would be of interest to give a list of the articles these 
"back breakers" contained, the entire weight of which was eighty 
pounds. The following articles compose the pack: one or two 
blankets, half of a shelter tent with poles and pins complete — 
the outfit is commonly known as a pup tent — extra set of under- 
wear, woolen breeches, blouse and shirt, three pairs of socks, a 
can containing coffee, sugar, salt and pepper, canteen and cover 
for drinking, haversack and pack carrier, rain and overcoats, 
extra pairs of shoes, rifle, scabbard and bayonet, cartridge belt 
with two hundred rounds of ammunition, and last but not least, 
gas mask and helmet. Sometimes a rope and axe were carried 
by the engineers. 

While stationed here we have experienced a scarcity of food, 
ofttimes going hungry. Very little food could be gotten in the 

[ 117 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

town. As in civilian life, October 1 was moving day for our 
outfit. Once more the "iron man" was to carry us to a Camp 
Genicart. This camp was later to become famous as an em- 
barkation site. Hardly settled, we were again told to pack our 
belongings and prepare for another change of scenery, going 
this time by the shoe leather route (hiking) some ten miles dis- 
tance to the town of St. Lobes, located near the Gironde River. 
Arriving there at twelve o'clock, our first thoughts were of eat- 
ing. After "chow" camp was broken. The location picked out 
was not such an ideal spot. Part of the year it was under water, 
due to an overflow of the river. At times this river had a rise 
in tide of twenty-one feet. 

The first sergeant's whistle blew about 4:30 o'clock in the 
morning, sent us all a-rolling from under our blankets on the 
ground, for reveille. After a light breakfast, light only in quan- 
tity, as it seemed to be an unwritten law in the company that 
all the boiler makers and iron workers of the outfit be apprentices 
for the position of cook. Again that everlasting whistle! Our 
day's work was to begin in earnest. Details formed, gave every 
man some kind of work to do, many going to work building docks 
nearby. Others were assigned to work the long end of a shovel 
and pick. For the carpenters there was work a-plenty. Sev- 
eral men were also given details of German prisoners to work 
digging ditches. The camp contained some thousands of cap- 
tives. I was fortunate in getting in with a detail laying sills 
or foundations for warehouses to be erected. 

Hardly had we located, when an epidemic of the Spanish Flu 
disease broke out in our section. The Company was hit hard, 
at one time having one hundred and eighty-five cases out of the 
outfit's two hundred and forty. Perhaps the little sign, "God 
Bless Our Home Here and Overseas," proved a charm for our 
squad ; as we were the only one not affected by the disease. 
Amidst rain and mud after returning from work part of our 
day's program was to carry new cases to nearby temporary 
hospitals. Eleven of the boys went to the "Happy Hunting 
Grounds" while stationed here. Their loss cast a gloom over the 
Company. End of November orders to break camp were re- 

[ 118 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

ceived Avith much rejoicing. The camps of St. Lobes will be 
long remembered by Company C. It was at this side that news 
of the signing of the Armistice was received. Need I describe 
what happened when the news was received.'' No! I think not. 
Picture if you can what this event meant to a nation three- 
fourths of whom were wearing mourning. Had the war con- 
tinued another month many of the 312th Engineers would have 
perhaps answered their last roll-call on foreign soil. 

Newspapers received from the States gave the 87th Division 
as one scheduled for an early return home. Our happiness was 
complete when on November 25 assembly and fall in were sounded 
by the bugler and we turned our backs on the camp of St. Lobes. 
Bound for Camp Genicart, some ten miles away. Although 
many of the boys were still feeling the effects of the "flu," the 
hike to Genicart seemed but a short walk. The camp, now an 
embarkment area, was to be our home for a few days. We were 
to embark on the first ship available, but the good ship "avail- 
able" never did come. Four months we remained here, celebrat- 
ing the Christmas holidays. On January 1, I was promoted to 
the rank of Corporal, having been made Private First Class 
about two months previous. The rank offered several privileges. 
Less or rather no kitchen police, not so much detail work or 
guard duty. My rapid promotions must have made General 
Pershing envious. At this rate another month will see me out- 
ranking "Black Jack." During the company's stay in Geni- 
cart much improvement had been made under our supervision. 
Many mess halls, barracks, Y, M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, 
and Salvation Army buildings were erected. Company C also 
put up the skeleton frame work and much of the finishing work 
on the Libert}' Theatre in the camp. This show house is con- 
sidered the largest of its kind in the A. E. F. and has a capacity 
of six thousand people. 

About this time the outfit were given the privilege of making 
application for the "Duty Status Leave," a pi'ivilege given to 
every soldier that has served four months service in the A. E. F. 
The leave gave the men a splendid opportunity to see some of 
the country they were fighting in and for, the U. S. Government 

[ 119 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

putting its foreign representatives up at the best of hotels for 
seven days, at its leave area, during which time the soldier was 
under very little military restrictions. But when one once 
checked in at the area, he must remain there until his seven 
days have ended. Among the recreation centers were Monte 
Carlo, Nice, Biarritz, Grenoble, Aix-le-Bains and Luchon. 

In making application for a duty status leave, the soldier does 
not select the area. This is taken care of by the Provost Mar- 
shal's office. They assign the men to such location not over- 
crowded. On the morning of February 10 in company of forty- 
five others of our outfit, I started on my duty status leave. 
The location picked out for us was the city of Luchon, situated 
in the Pyrenees Mountains. The city was about five miles from 
Spain. Before the war, Luchon was known as a fashionable 
gambling centre. The French society that operated the Casino 
at Monte Carlo also had held forth at the Casino at Luchon. 
Although our start was made in that everlasting rain of France, 
all of us were in sunny dispositions, the thought of a fourteen 
day session of eating and sleeping made every cloud have a 
silver lining. 

In addition to the Government paying our hotel expenses, we 
also were to receive our transportation free. Before arriving 
at Bordeaux, from which point we were to travel south, six of 
us decided to accidentally get on the wrong train and take one 
that goes to Paris. Watching the opportunity, the accident 
happened, and we started on the five hundred mile trip that 
finally landed us in "Gay Paree." Before securing a pass it 
was necessary that some sort of explanation be given the Ameri- 
can R. R. transportation official in the station. The twelve 
hour trip from Bordeaux to the capital city had given us ample 
time to prepare a feasible excuse. If he doubted our story, his 
face did not show it, for we had no trouble in securing the neces- 
sary military passes. A supper for the small sum of ten cents 
was given us by the American Red Cross Society located near 
the railway station. They also very kindly directed us to one 
of their hotels at which place we could put up for the night. 
The hotel was located uptown, necessitating our taking the sub- 

[ 120 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

way, or, as the French call it, the Metro. It is similar to our 
underground railroads, but it does not travel quite so fast and 
has the class distinction. A good night's sleep at the Red Cross 
Hotel which cost us nothing was broken by our getting up at 
four-thirty to see some of the city's points of interest, as our 
stay in the city was good only until such time as our train for 
the Spanish border left the city. Our first glimpse of the fam- 
ous Eiffel Tower was taken at five in the morning. The big 
ferris wheel some three hundred feet high, we also were looking 
at about the same time. Likewise the other pretty architectural 
work nearby. After a walk along some of the city's famous 
boulevards, we started back to the railroad station, arriving 
there in time to climb aboard the train scheduled to leave for 
the Spanish border at 10 o'clock. The trip was made in about 
one and a half days of continuous traveling. Checking in at 
Luchon, two days later, having covered some thousand miles of 
France. Hotel accommodations were given the six of us, and 
our leave officially began. To again sleep in a soft bed was like 
getting a letter from home. 

The Y. M. C. A. furnished entertainments for the boys, also 
arranging hikes to nearby points of interest. A visit to a little 
shepherd village located on the side of a mountain proved very 
interesting, the little town was some five hundred years old. The 
children only go to school one day a week. Many of the people 
had never heard of as large cities as Bordeaux. The people have 
an interesting legend, the story rivalling our Rip Van Winkle 
legend, of a wonderful saint that jumped from one mountain 
to another after having his head chopped off, landing on a rock, 
which stone, with imprints of his feet on it, is shown to visitors. 

The sextette went on another trip to the ancient town of 
St. Betrand. The village at one time was part of a large Roman 
city ; had many relics ; in the large cathedral there were carvings 
of great value, the little town refusing an offer of five million 
dollars made to it by the city of Lyons for the wood-carving 
made of oak that for thirty years was soaked in water to separate 
the poor material. Another fift}'^ 3'ears was taken to finish the 
carving, done by the monks. Another day found us hiking to the 

[ 121 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

border of Spain. Taking the chance of being caught and court 
martialed, six of us decided to spend the night in Spain, which 
we did after a walk of some three hours on Spanish soil. Our 
arrival in Les near Balboa created considerable excitement, about 
the same as a circus arrival in a small town. The citizens 
treated us cordially, the children all eager to show us the points 
of interest. 

The capacity for food of the American seemed to astonish the 
people. The keen mountain air had rather put an edge to our 
appetites. Several of the boys found the Spanish wine real 
"fire water," waking up during the night to drink up all the 
drinking and washing water. A guitar purchased for a dollar 
was the means of us fellows seeing some real Spanish dancing. 
The folks seem never too old to dance, and the American ragtime 
music and dancing proved popular on its introduction. 

The following day the return to France was made after much 
weary hiking uphill. Finally reaching our hotel in time for 
supper. The next day found us on the mountain train bound 
for the summit of one of the highest mountains in the Pyrenees 
chain. On account of a heavy snow-fall, the train could only 
go three-quarters of the distance. The balance of the trip was 
made on foot. 

Ascending we were soon above the clouds, finally reaching the 
top. Amidst the snow and cloud mist we descended. Rather 
a difficult task it was on account of the narrow path to walk 
on. The last day of our leave was spent at the Sulphur Baths. 

Our vacation finished, it was up to us to pack up and start 
back to camp. But before so doing, we fellows intended to do 
some more sightseeing, leaving the train at Tarbes to visit some 
interesting sights, among which was the birthplace of Marshall 
Foch. In order that hotel expenses be avoided, the six of us 
traveled nights, and spent the daytime looking around. Leaving 
Tarbes, another stop was made at Bayonne, going from 
Bayonne to Biarritz. The last named is one of Europe's most 
fashionable seashore resorts. Located on the Bay of Biscay, 
it is an ideal spot. It is also known as the "Atlantic City of 
Europe." 

[ 122 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

Our visit to the city was previous to its becoming a recreation 
centre for the U. S. Government. After a short stay, we 
returned to Bayonne, going from there to Bordeaux. A hike to 
Camp Genicart completed our vacation. Genicart remained our 
home until March. During this time much of my time was 
spent doing mechanic's work. The little knowledge gleaned may 
prove valuable in the future. Orders for our company to re- 
lieve a company of the 32nd Engineers at Camp St. Sulpice 
arrived about this time. St. Sulpice was one of Uncle Sam's 
largest military prisons abroad, and was also known as the 
largest warehouse site in the world, some four hundred of them 
being located here. Their construction work amazed the French 
Engineers, as they considered the project would take some five 
years to complete. The time taken by the American Engineers 
was just four months. 

Arriving at our new home, we were assigned one hundred and 
forty miles of roads to repair, build, and maintain. In addi- 
tion to which we operated a stone quarry, and three gravel pits. 
Our work on the roads necessitated the use of several steam 
rollers, eight tractors, surface drags and scrapers, and some six 
hundred men, five hundred German and one hundred American 
prisoners daily. My part in the "road manicuring" was that 
of a foreman over fifty Germans. My task consisted of giving 
their "under officer," or non-commissioned officer, orders who, 
in turn, passed the directions along to his men. June 1 our work 
was completed and we were relieved, and our regiment placed 
on the sailing list. We returned to Genicart to be de- 
loused, a sort of cleaning process whereby the soldier parts 
with many undesirable citizens, as "cooties," fleas and other para- 
sites, is given a physical examination and new clothes if needed. 
There remained but the gangplank. Friday, June 14th, we 
started -on our last hike on French soil. Going to the Bassen 
Embarkation Piers, and boarding the transport Dakotan and 
sailed for home. The transport, although rather small, formerly 
having been a freighter, nevertheless proved quite comfortable. 
In addition to the 312th Engineers, there were some fifty Ameri- 
can prisoners, one of whom was shackled the entire trip. The 

[ 123 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

man had killed a mess sergeant in France and was considered 
dangerous. The sighting of a mine when out several days, 
proved interesting. The boat circled it at about a mile dis- 
tance, firing some twenty shots, two of which hit it near the water 
line, causing the water to dampen the powder. 

At Cape May, N. J., a pilot was taken on board the ship, 
and we entered the harbor, docking at the Commonwealth Pier 
of Philadelphia. This city gave us a royal welcome. The trip 
to Camp Dix was made in several hours. After a stay of two 
days, another delousing process, and our discharge was handed 
us. Finally, reaching home July 1, after an absence of fourteen 
months, eleven of which were spent overseas. 

Looking back, I have the Great Architect of the Universe to 
thank for many narrow escapes. In closing, may I say that I 
value my experience highly, but would not care to undergo it 
again. 

VINCENT G. LAWLOR 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., October 7, 1895. 
Attended Broolclyn Grammar and High Schools. 



A 



FTER some experience in the Banking business I entered the 
employ of the Hanover National Bank. In May, 1917, I en- 
listed in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force and was called for active 
duty November 25 of that year. After preliminary training 
at Pelham Bay Naval Training Station I was transferred for 
duty aboard the U. S. S. Don Juan de Austria, receiving the 
rating of Second Class Quartermaster. (This steamer was origi- 
nally a Spanish gunboat, sunk in Manila Bay by Dewey's Squad- 
ron in 1898, and some years later was raised and brought to 
the United States.) I sailed from New York, August 14, to 
convoy a number of barges loaded with "TNT" destined for 
France by way of the Azores. My first trip was particularly 
interesting as it carried me in the area of the U. S. Coast in 
which the U-boats were active at that time. We sighted a large 
number of wrecks that had been torpedoed or shelled. The 

[ 124 ] 



* ^ ^ --^ ■ ' - ^ -^- ^ ,»__^.^^.>..v,^ -^--.— — ^-.._»— ..^^ ...^^^.^.J.. ^ ..^ ^ 




EDWARD W. J. KOCH 



V. G. LAWLOR 





CHARLES VALENTINE LENT 



WILLIAM J. LOGAN 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

sight of these wrecks greatly increased the determination of the 
boys in the Navy to hunt down the enemy. Our ship entered 
the harbor of Bermuda for coaling. After a stay of a number 
of days, the ship proceeded with its convoy to the Azores. A 
few days out from Bermuda, the Don Juan de Austria and her 
convoy ran into a tropical storm of great severity, during which 
the convoy of barges broke away from the tow and were lost. 
After searching for a number of days for possible survivors 
(which had to be abandoned on account of shortage of coal) 
the ship returned to the United States via Bermuda, at which 
port a stop was made for coaling. After this trip I made a 
number of trips, convoying ships bound for "Over There" dur- 
ing which of course a sharp lookout was kept for submarines. 
At present the Don Juan de Austria is in her home port at 
Newport, R. I., making daily trips to sea for target practice. 

On my discharge from the Navy I returned to the Hanover 
National Bank. 



CHARLES VALENTINE LENT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., February 14, 1894. 

Attended Public Schools and Nutley High School, Nutley, N. J. 



M, 



.R. LENT entered the Service September 10, 1917, being 
a volunteer to go with the first contingent of the new National 
Army. He was sent to Camp Upton, where he was assigned to 
Company K, 305th Infantry, 77th Division. Shortly after he 
was selected to attend a school of instruction for non-commis- 
sioned officers, and on November 1 was made Sergeant. Janu- 
ary 3, Mr. Lent was chosen for Officers' Training School, and 
three months later was recommended for a commission as Second 
Lieutenant. April 16 he sailed Overseas, landing at Liverpool 
April 29 ; entrained for Dover, and from that port crossed the 
Channel to Calais, France. After a period of training in North- 
ern France with the British he was ordered south and entered 
the trenches in the Lorraine sector June 24, 1918. He was then 
ordered to the 28th Division, which held the Reserve trenches at 

[ 125 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Chateau-Thierry, for observation purposes. Julj 14 received 
his commission; shortly after was gassed. He developed Pleuro- 
pneumonia and was sent to Base Hospital No. 23. September 
3 he was transferred to Base Hospital No. 8 at Savenay ; and on 
September 5 sailed for the United States on the S. S. Mount 
Vernon, which seven hours out from Brest was torpedoed. The 
ship returned to port under her own steam. Mr. Lent was 
transferred to the S. S. Lenape which twice during the voyage 
was attacked by submarines. He landed safely at Ellis Island 
September 17, 1918. He entered Base Hospital No. 16 at New 
Haven, Conn., but his recovery has been slow. The effects of 
the gas were more severe than it was hoped they would be, and 
in spite of great resisting powers Mr. Lent at this time is not im- 
proving as rapidly as was expected. 



WILLIAM JOHN LOGAN 

Born at Montclair, N. J., August 2, 1891. 

Attended Lawrenceville School; graduate Princeton University. 



U 



PON graduating from Princeton University I entered the 
employ of the Hanover National Bank. In June, 1916, as a 
Private in Troop C of Squadron A, New York Cavalry, I went 
to the Texas Border, remaining there until December of that 
year. 

I attended the Second Plattsburg Camp and received a com- 
mission of 1st Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. I was assigned 
to the 308th Field Artillery at Camp Dix, and on May 28 left 
with them for France. Upon our arrival on the other side I 
attended the Artillery School at Meuton, near Vannes in Brit- 
tany. Having completed the prescribed course I was promoted 
to the rank of Captain in Field Artillery and sent back to this 
country, being assigned to the 14th Division, which had just 
been formed. My trip home I will describe as follows: 

Early in the morning we boarded the U. S. S. Huron, pre- 
pared to sail for New York. The afternoon found us still 

[ 126 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

anchored in the harbor of Brest taking aboard wounded from a 
Lighter. As evening approached the Army officers were gathered 
and given the rules which would govern the passage. About 
six o'clock the anchor was weighed and we put to sea in com- 
pany with three other steamships and convoyed by six destroyers. 
A small dirigible headed the way of our small flotilla. 

Just before the sun sank one of the ship's crew announced that 
the smoking lamp was out. From that moment on until sunrise 
all smoking was confined to the smoking room. We were again 
assembled, and officers turned over all matches, phosphorescent 
wrist watches and flash lights. I started to wend my way to the 
smoking room. I found it necessary to go down to the deck 
below and seemingly walk the length of the ship, groping in 
the dark for the gangway which would lead to the room on 
the deck above. The ship, which was formerly the Crown Prince 
Frederick, was built on German lines, and the spiral staircase 
did not twist in the way that I expected; consequently, I ran 
into a post before finding the passage. 

Upon entering the room above I beheld two blue lights which 
were hardly discernible through great clouds of smoke. There 
was absolutely no ventilation and it seemed that the room could 
not hold another person. I had only been in the room a few 
moments when there was a slight vibration accompanied by a 
hollow report such as I had never heard before. In silence, all 
conversation ceased and everyone rose as at command, as 
quickly as possible we filed out of, the room, went below and out 
on the deck. The evening was delightfully clear, the surface of 
the water being only slightly rippled by the breeze. The moon 
was full and directly overhead. No sooner were we on deck than 
the bow-gun, which I had noticed, was fired, more to the dis- 
turbance of the unwary ones about it than to any submarines. 
That was the closest we came to any casualties. The Destroyers 
began to signal furiously to each other, and at intervals of about 
twenty minutes dropped depth charges. Great spouts of water 
would rise, and we would rise, and we would hear the same hol- 
low roar I described before. This was repeated for about an 
hour, all of which time we would change our course about every 

[ 127 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

two minutes. The firing having ceased, we resumed our normal 
course and the excitement for the evening was over. 

A week passed uneventfully. There were many regulations 
which seemed to bother us but we dismissed them, thinking that 
they seemed strange to us because of our ignorance of seaman- 
ship. It seemed rather hard to understand why it was that the 
Army Officers' smoking room had only two blue lights, while 
the Naval Ofl^cers' had the usual number of white lights. Our 
quarters were also without lights of any kind, while theirs were 
lighted. A sign outside the Naval Officers' smoking room read 
in no uncertain terms: "ARMY OFFICERS KEEP OUT." 

About this time I was congratulating myself upon having 
been designated a Reserve on the Guard Roster. However there 
was one post which was placed on the topmost portion of the mast. 
One morning about four a. m. I was rudely shaken and told to take 
Post No. 5, as the officer who was to go on guard there had been 
suddenly taken ill. I hurriedly adjusted my clothing, which by 
the way had not been taken off since we started, and proceeded 
up to the deck. Inquiring where post No. 5 was, I was informed 
that it was somewhere on the rear mast. A rubber suit was given 
me which I put on and immediately proceeded to the foot of the 
mast. An iron ladder ran up the side which I started to climb. 
The rake of the mast tended to throw my weight to one side, 
aided by the wind which seemed to me to be blowing the hardest 
I have ever experienced. I found myself suffering from probably 
the same malady which affected the man who should have gone 
on guard. The intensity increased the higher I went up. Ar- 
riving at the first crosstrees I could feel the hot air from the 
funnel. Finally I succeeded in reaching the lookout where two 
sailors were on watch. To enter this compartment gracefully it 
is necessary to climb still higher, swing out to one side and enter 
feet first. However, my joy at being able to enter the lookout 
was so great that I entered it head first, much to the amusement 
of the two sailors on guard there. After turning a complete 
somersault, I arranged my garments more readily than my equi- 
librium. A few moments afterward I felt somewhat like my 
former self, and holding on tight, looked over the side at the sur- 

[ 128 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

rounding sea. I was appalled at the enormous spread before my 
eyes. For two hours I remained above, finally being relieved. 
My trip down the mast was not much more comfortable than the 
ascent. It was a great relief when I found myself once more 
on the deck. 

Upon my arrival at Newport News I was ordered to Camp 
Custer, Mich., where the 14.th Division was being formed. We 
were scheduled to go to France about December, 1918, but the 
signing of the Armistice prevented our departure. In February, 
1919, our Division was demobilized and I received my discharge. 



AUSTIN N. LOW 
Born at Walton, New York, June 30, 1897. 

Attended Public School and Commercial High School; also the 
College of the City of New York. 

T 

± FIRST became associated with the Railway Business Associa- 
tion while continuing my studies at the Brooklyn Evening High 
School for Men. At this school particularly I was active in 
athletic and literary work, and at one time editor of the school's 
Team. In the summer of 1917, when war was declared, I enlisted 
publication The Evening Star, as well as Captain of the Debating 
in Battery E, Second New York Field Artillery of Brooklyn, 
going to Fort Niagara, Youngstown, N. Y. On October 5, 1917* 
the outfit left for Spartanburg, S. C, where I was transferred to 
Division Headquarters and assigned to War Risk work, remain- 
ing until February, 1918. Early in April I was one of forty 
men to leave for overseas for duty with the clerical force of 
General Pershing. I remained in France until June 11, 1919, 
and was subsequently mustered out of the service with the rank 
of Regimental Sergeant Major. The most vivid impression of 
France which I received was the meaning of the term hospitality. 
The degree of inadequacy of appreciation with which that term is 
used in America can only be realized by those people who visited 
France during the war. Of course, I am not acquainted with 

[ 129 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

her peace-time etiquette, but I cannot imagine such whole- 
hearted hospitality to have been born over night. From the 
moment of debarkation throughout the fifteen months I spent 
with them, I was made to feel at home. Whenever I walked 
through a city, town, or the country invariably there were salu- 
tations from all sides. The Frenchman has a very keen sense of 
fellowship. The entire nation of France is a paternal organiza- 
tion. Regardless of your station or possessions you may always 
find a comrade and a friend. My first walk was to a little town 
called Montbazon, situated in a picturesque valley in the Indre-et- 
Loire province. It is located about twelve kilometers from Tours, 
my station. As in all French villages, it has a cathedral, a 
chateau. Hotel de la Ville and Monsieur Le Cure. The Statue 
de la Vierge (Statue of the Virgin), which about fifty years ago 
was placed on the pinnacle of the chateau, may be seen for miles 
around. It was this feature that attracted me. While I stood 
at the base of the chateau, gazing admiringly at the statue, a 
gentleman. Monsieur Henri Volonte, whom I later learned to be 
the proprietor of a small flour mill at Montbazon, greeted me and 
insisted that I accompany him to his home and rest. Being 
somewhat fatigued, I accepted the invitation and, upon taking my 
departure some hours later, was requested to call again. Briefly, 
during my stay in France my visits to the home of the worthy 
Frenchman and his family averaged once every week, and at 
each visit the reception given me was hearty and complete. We 
had games of croquet, bicycle rides, motorcycle rides, fishing, 
swimming and patriotic demonstrations. The variety and whole- 
someness of the food which was served, as well as the tasty way in 
which it was always prepared fosters my sincere regard. It is 
a fact that I had never known the real flavor of the potato until 
I made this acquaintance. The average meal consisted of po- 
tage (bread soup), fried poisson (eels), potatoes, chicken, peas, 
pudding, cakes, fruit and coffee. Nobody but a soldier can 
appreciate how welcome a meal of that kind was. And may I 
here state that I cannot confirm the propaganda that the French 
people eat snails, for Madame Volonte never served them, as far 
as I know. 

C 130 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

My first leave of seven days was spent at Dinard, Brittany. 
While there I visited the historical island of Mont St. Michel, 
which has been the objective of countless armies, but thanks to 
the quicksand surrounding it, it has never been captured and 
thousands of soldiers are said to have perished at each effort. 
The Cathedral at Bourges ; the variety of features of destruction 
at Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Woods, Grecourt, Olchy-Breny, 
Soissons ; the Chateau of Henry IV at Pau with its costly Gobelin 
tapestries ; the Shrine at Lourdes coupled with its panoramic 
history ; the Pyrenees Mountains at Luchon, and the thousands 
of points of interest and instruction at Paris are sights never to 
be forgotten. 

I sailed from Brest, France, on June 1, 1919, and on June 
18, 1919, after an eight day journey on the S. S. Cap Finistere, 
was discharged at Camp Meigs, Washington, D. C. 



JOHN E. LUDEWIG 

Born at West HoboJcen, N. J., January 1, 1894. 
Attended Jersey City Grammar and High Schools. 



E. 



iNTERED the service of the Hanover National Bank in 1914. 
On September 23, 1917, I left Jersey City for Camp Dix, N. J. 
On my arrival I was assigned to Company H, 312th Infantry at 
Camp Dix, and was promoted to the rank of Corporal, and finally 
Sergeant. 

On May 19, 1918, the 78th Division, to which the 312th was 
attached, left Camp Dix for oversea service. We entrained at 
the camp, but as our destination was unknown, it was left mostly 
to speculation. Eventually we arrived at Boston and boarded 
the British transport Winifredian. We sailed from Boston on 
the morning of May 20 and arrived at Halifax the next day. We 
lay in the bay for a day, when the rest of the ships arrived which 
made up our convoy, and we set sail for the Great Adventure. 
The trip was uneventful until about two days out from the Irish 
coast we were attacked by submarines, but fortunately one of 

[ 131 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

our destroyers fired a depth bomb and the sub was blown clean 
out of the water. After seventeen days' sailing we arrived at 
Grevesend (London) on the Thames. Thence in railroad 
coaches to Folkestone, where we rested for a week. Here we had 
the opportunity of visiting the nearby English villages and towns, 
which we found to be very quaint. 

We left Folkestone on the S. S. Marguerite, crossed the Eng- 
lish Channel, arriving at Calais, June 12, 1918. Marched to a 
rest camp, where we realized that we had reached the scenes of 
War, with the rumbling of cannon, frequently air raids, and our 
sand bottomed tents. We had four days of this life, when we 
boarded our first French train for Devres. Arriving there we 
hiked ten kilos to Senlecques and had our first taste of the much 
talked of French Billets. Having horses and pigs for com- 
panions, still we were contented. 

Trained here under British instructors with the implements 
of modern warfare. Left here for a two-day course in shooting 
and thence to new quarters in Hericourt. We finished our train- 
ing and then took over the reserve position of the Arras sector. 
With a few officers and non-coms I hiked to the front line for 
observation purpose. The first night the Boche cut through 
the wires on a raid, but fortunately we drove them off without 
casualties. After a few nights of this, we again joined the com- 
pany and entrained to assume our place in the newly formed 
"First American Army" detraining at Jussey, August 22nd, 
resting over night. We then hiked for a number of days, 
stopping at small towns until September 10, when we received 
orders to move to a given point, there to meet again the dough- 
boys' delight "The Lorries" and were hurried to our position as 
reserves in the St. Mihiel sector. The following night we were 
ordered to move further up, and on reaching our position were 
stripped to our combat packs. 

On September 13 we were ordered to move forward, following 
up the advance with a total of seventeen hours hiking in one 
stretch through the former German occupied territory, seeing 
many German prisoners going to the rear. Moved into support 
line September 20. The shells were flying thick and fast and 

[ 132 ] 





AUSTIX N. LOW 



JOHN W. LUDKVVR. 





GEO. A. LUHRSEN 



FRANK McKENNETT 



bfMUum jw VT i ri- - "'" —■- "- 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

we spent most of our time digging trenches in case of a counter 
attack. Then moved up to the front line, which was only about 
800 yards ahead. We relieved another company of our regiment 
under darkness, and commenced our front line operations. 

In the night of September 25 I was placed in charge of a 
patrol of six men and ordered to come in contact with the enemy 
as the former occupants of the trenches had lost contact. We 
were attacked during the night by an enemy patrol, but only 
had one man wounded by a machine gun. Early the next morn- 
ing a heavy barrage was sent over by the enemy, and they made 
a direct hit on our position, killing one and wounding the rest 
(myself included). We finally made our way back to the lines; 
were sent to the First Aid Dressing Stations ; and from there 
via ambulances to the Hospital. After spending a few weeks in 
hospitals in the vicinity of Toul I was sent to Base Hospital 
No. 6 in Bordeaux. Had a wonderful ride in American Red 
Cross Hospital trains, which was quite different from my former 
trips "a la cattle car." 

On November 26 I boarded the good ship Tendores for the 
good old U. S. A. and landed in Hoboken on December 11. 
Thence to "Greenhut Hospital" for a week, from which place I 
was sent to Camp Upton and mustered out on February 5. 



GEORGE A. LUHRSEN 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., February 16, 1898. 
Attended Grammar and High School, Union Hill, N. J. 



U: 



PON leaving high school I endeavored to enlist in the Navy, 
but on account of being under weight I was refused. I was also 
refused in the Marines for the same reason. Finally I passed in 
the Merchant Marine and was assigned to Transport Coastwise 
Service on a steamer carrying U. S. Government cargoes between 
Norfolk and Portland, Maine. While engaged in this service, 
I took a course at the Navigation School, New York City, and 

[ 133 ] 



I'kkrM Vti fl^^ > ■■ ' - -^ ■--■■■>>■». w -,- ^ >.y«. -■»-.. ..-■w-^ -. -^ 't -^ , -V -^ V.t.-. ,--'>->.r^Vr^_^,-w..-t.^> >■ 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

studied for the Merchant Marine. Upon receiving my discharge, 
I re-entered the service of the Hanover National Bank. 



FRANK McKENNETT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., June 7, 1892. 

Attended Public Schools and Miners Academy , Brooklyn, N. Y. 



I 



ENLISTED at Governor's Island November 19, 1917, and 
was assigned to the 5th Guard Company. This organization 
was a branch of the Infantry, Regular Army, and my duties con- 
sisted of drill and guarding military prisoners. July 9, 1918, 
I was appointed Army Field Clerk and on July 30, 1918, sailed 
for France. My trip over was very quiet ; although we had re- 
ports that the submarines were operating in our territory, we 
never sighted any. Arrived in Liverpool on August 12 and left 
the next day for Southmpton. Was very glad to leave Liver- 
pool as it was a very dirty town. Southampton was a very dif- 
ferent place with nice houses, pretty streets, and I would have 
liked to have spent more than the one day we were allowed there. 
Crossed the English Channel on August 15, and after a very 
rough trip landed in La Havre on August 17, where we were sent 
to a rest camp. I shall never forget how I enjoyed the two days 
rest in La Havre, However, we received orders to proceed to 
Chaumont, where the General Headquarters was established, and 
after three days and three nights of slow, tiresome traveling in 
a French train, we landed at Chaumont. On August 20 I was 
assigned to the Sixth Army Corps, who were stationed at Bour- 
bonne-les-Bains. The Corps had not been fully organized, and 
my duties were to prepare Tables of Organization for the neces- 
sary units and see that the men and supplies were received. We 
stayed in Bourbonne-les-Bains a month, and then were ordered 
to a town about sixty kilometers north of Nancy, called Sarze- 
rais. It was then I received my first impression of the line, as 
heretofore I had been in the zone of supply, and as we passed 
one devastated village after the other, I could then really see 

[ 134 ] * 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

how France had suffered. Our Corps was stationed in Sarzerais 
for four months from September 18 until December 23. Before 
the Armistice our divisions were very active and my work con- 
sisted during this period mainly of obtaining replacements to 
fill the casualties of the various divisions operating under the 
jurisdiction of our Corps. On December 24 we moved up to 
Villerup, France, which is on the border of Luxembourg, main- 
taining order and taking charge of dumps of abandoned material. 
On April 28 we received our orders to sail for the United States. 
We arrived at Brest May 1, and on May 14 sailed for the U. S. A. 
on the U. S. S. North Carolina. Arrived in Boston, May 26, 
and was discharged at Camp Devens, May 29, 1919. 



CONRAD J. MEIER 

Born at Jamaica, L. I., N. Y., June 3, 1898. 

Attended Public Schools of Jamaica and Richmond Hill, N. Y., 

graduating in June 1912 ; and from High School, Sauger- 

ties, N. Y., in June, 1916. 



A 



FTER a short time spent on a farm I moved to Brooklyn, 
N. Y., when I entered the employ of the Hanover National Bank. 
I enlisted in the service of the U. S. Army in May, 1918. 

A bunch of us were sent to Camp A. A. Humphreys, Va., where 
not without many a cuss we grubbed stumps and dug water mains, 
etc. We finally built up a real camp out of the piece of woods it 
was upon our arrival. Toward the end of July a bunch was 
picked to go to Camp Forest, Ga., to receive and drill some 
"Rookies." They were Iowa cornhuskers, etc., but we got along 
fine with them. About August 25, I got my first regular assign- 
ment in Company D, 212th Engineers, and in a few days that 
regiment was moved up to Camp Devens, Mass., and assigned 
there to the 12th Division supposed to leave for France about 
October 15. I was appointed Company Bugler October 1. Our 
trip Overseas was held up three times, first by the "Flu" then by 

[ 135 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the measles, and finally by the signing of the Armistice. At that 
time our date for leaving Devens was November 13. Meantime 
all our equipment, even horses and mules, were at the port of 
embarkation. But then all our hopes of beating the rear of the 
German Hun vanished . . . On a certain expedition, I was 
named battalion bugler, a job which requires a horseback rider. 
So, gritting my teeth to see my "bluff" through (for I had never 
ridden a horse before), I got on with much premature ceremony. 
Lucky for me, however, that the horse was none of the rearing 
kind; on the other hand, I exhausted myself from whipping him 
and "digging" in the spurs. But nobody could have told me 
that night that I was not an experienced horseman. It took 
something "hard to swallow" to make me believe that. But that 
something came a few days later when I was out with the Com- 
pany afoot, building a pontoon over the Nashua River. On the 
hike back the Captain had his saddle strapped full of rope, mak- 
ing it seem impossible for a man to sit up there and ride it. He 
had a fine lively horse, and told me to take him in as he preferred 
to walk. At last I thought my opportunity had arrived to 
show what a wonderful horseman I was. The horse knew we were 
homeward bound, and I put one foot in the stirrup, leaped up 
on top of the rope and found out that both feet were about eight 
inches too short to reach the stirrup sitting on top of the rope. 
But it was good-by then ; as when I had my one foot prepared to 
mount the horse was on his way. By his rate of travel you could 
tell that he could smell the road home for in another bound I was 
jounced off the rope and landed on his neck, and from then on 
all I did was hold on. When I passed the company, it seemed 
they just yelled delight, for the joke was on me. My "kidnapper" 
refused kind words and just galloped on about one-half a mile 
and I believe the only reason he stopped then was that his neck 
was tired and somewhat strained. But you can rest assured 
that I walked him the rest of the way back. Many incidents 
occurred during those three months, all of which, I harbor as 
pleasant memories, but it might bore the readers of this book. 
. . . They kept us in reserve about three months and we were 
all discharged the last two weeks in January, 1919." 

[ 136 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

After receiving my discharge, on February 6, 1919, I returned 
to Hanover National Bank. 



ANDREW J. MEYER 

Born at New York City, February 23, 1893. 

Attended Public School No. 152, and Manual Training High 
School of Brooklyn. 



A: 



.PRIL 23, 1917, I enlisted in Company G, Seventh Regiment, 
New York. In October, 1917, our Regiment was filled up with 
men from other New York Regiments, and then became the 107th 
U. S. Infantry. We were trained at Camp Wadsworth, Spartan- 
burg, S. C, for eight months and sailed from Newport News, Va., 
for France May 9, 1918. We traveled up the coast as far as the 
Newfoundland fog banks, and the next day, when the fog lifted, 
we were surrounded by thirteen other troop ships. We were 
escorted over by a large cruiser, and within four days sailing 
off the French Coast we were picked up by about two dozen Ameri- 
can destroyers. Our Regiment landed at Brest May 23, 1918, 
where we camped overnight. From Brest we proceeded by train 
to Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme. Fritz gave us a great wel- 
come that night. They dropped a few bombs, wrecking the rail- 
road station, and killing three French women in the town. The 
training was with the British in the Albert region, on soil which 
had been embattled for years. Our training and later fighting 
Was all with the British. Rifles, rations, machine guns, horses, 
and machine gun limbers were all British. From Noyelles we 
hiked to Ault, a coast resort on the English Channel. We stayed 
here until the wind blew towards the Channel. Our regiment 
went down to the shore and then they launched a cloud and shell 
gas attack, to show us what we would have to contend with in the 
near future, and also to place confidence in our gas-masks. After 
that we hiked one hundred miles in four days to the Arras Front, 
sleeping at night in the woods in pup tents. Our next move was 
to Belgium. We took over the East Paperinghe Line July 9 to 

[ 137 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

August 20, 1918. This action consisted of constructing and 
occupying the second position, opposite Mont Kemmel, during 
a time when the enemy was to make heavy attacks. The position 
was under close observation from Mt. Kemmel and was subjected 
to observed artillery fire by day and continued fire by night, 
inflicting daily casualties. Dickebusch Sector, Belgium, August 
21 to 30, 1918 (vicinity of Dickebusch Lake). This action con- 
sisted of holding the front line, repelling raids, making raids and 
patrols, being under continual artillery and machine gun fire, 
with perfect observation from enemy position on Mont Kemmel. 

Hindenburg Line (vicinity of Bony) France, September 29-30, 
1918. The Allied staffs had in their possession a book describing 
"Hindy" and it boasted that this portion was the most dangerous 
and hopeless for the attacker. It was indeed formidable, but 
the volume in describing its construction and technical points, 
omitted to tell of the traps, mines, and secret tunnels which proved 
fiendishly destructive when the advance began. The outer defense 
system consisted of several lines of trenches, protected by mazes 
of A\dre. There were three fortified strong points. The Knoll, 
Quinnemont Farm, and Guillemont Farm; light machine guns, 
minnewefer of all sizes, anti-tank guns, and concealed field pieces 
everywhere. In this battle, although the enemy employed every 
form of highly specialized machinery, the line was broken. After 
two weeks of rest back of the advancing battlef ront, we were again 
in the front line. The enemy reached the La Selle River after 
ten days pursuit. The Huns took prepared positions there, and 
made ready for a desperate resistance battle. 

La Selle River (vicinity of St. Souplet), France, October 17, 
1918. All the bridges had been destroyed by the enemy but the 
Engineers advancing just back of the first wave of Infantry suc- 
ceeded in constructing new ones in a remarkably short time. 
While trying to cross the River Selle, I was wounded in the left 
arm and leg, caused by a shell exploding about thirty yards from 
where I was. They sent me to American Base Hospital at Rouen, 
France. Two days later they sent me to Alexandra Hospital, 
Cosham (a suburb of Portsmouth). A month later they sent me 
to a British Red Cross Hospital at Fareham. I was there a 

[ 138 ] 





CONRAD J. MEIER 



ANDREW J. MEYER 




W. H. MEYER 



PHILIP C. MORCH, JR. 



rrmm 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

month, and then went to Winchester (American Casual Camp). 
From there I went to La Havre, France. Stayed there two days 
awaiting transportation back to my Company, which was sta- 
tioned at Zuppe, France. Was there three months; and on 
February 20, 1919, we received the best news in our young lives, 
that we were going back to New York. We left Brest February 
26, 1919, and came back on the Leviathan. We were up at Camp 
Merritt until the Welcome Home Parade, March 25; and after 
the parade we went to Camp Upton, where we received our dis- 
charge on April 2, 1919. 



WALTER H. MEYER 

Born at Newark, N. J., June 2, 1890. 

Attended Bergen Street Public School and Business College of 
that City. 



u 



PON receiving my orders I went to Camp Meade, Md., situ- 
ated between Baltimore and Washington. I was assigned to Com- 
pany B, 72nd Infantry, and made a Corporal October 7, 1918. 
My Regiment was the 11th, or Lafayette Division, so named in 
honor of Lafayette. At the time of the signing of the Armistice 
our Regiment was ready and fully equipped for service Overseas. 
I found the training at the Camp very severe. We had eight 
hours drill a day, including long hikes under heavy marching 
order. I found the gas drill experiences very interesting: Some 
forty-five men were detailed at a time to enter a room with their 
gas-masks adjusted. The room was heavily charged with chlo- 
rine gas. A device inside the mask clamped the nostrils tight, 
which necessitated breathing through the mouth. An order hav- 
ing been given to release the clamp, an admission of saturated 
chlorine air entered the mask, after which the clamp was replaced 
and the mask again tightly readjusted. This experience was to 
allow the men to recognize chlorine gas quickly. After this 
experience we walked out of the room in single file, keeping apart 
from each other as much as possible, in order that any gas 

[ 139 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

brought out in the clothing of the men would not affect them. 
Breathing was through a tube, connected with a tin canister con- 
taining chemicals which neutralize Chlorine gas, a valve auto- 
matically closing and opening as the breath was inhaled or ex- 
haled. Six seconds were allowed for removing the steel helmet 
and the adjustment of the mask. 

Upon receiving my discharge I returned to the service of the 
Hanover National Bank. 



PHILIP C. MORCH, Jr. 

Born at BrooTdyn, N. Y., November 13, 1893. 
Attended Public Schools. 



Ei 



EMPLOYED by the Hanover Bank until May 25, 1918, when 
I entered the U. S. Army and went to Camp Upton May 29 for 
three weeks' training. Transferred later to Camp Johnson in the 
Quartermaster Corps. October 8, 1918, promoted to Top Ser- 
geant and had charge of one of the offices with a clerical force 
of twenty men. After four weeks I received further promotion to 
the Students' Company No. 2 at the Officers' Training School, 
where I studied for a commission as Lieutenant. 

[Mr. Morch's story is incomplete owing to his absence.] 



HARRY NUSS 

Born at Jersey City, N. J., September 2, 1891. 
Attended Public School. 

ijEFT the employ of the Hanover National Bank to enlist on 
July 19, 1917, and was sent to Training Station at Tarrytown, 
New York. October 17, 1917, shipped aboard the U. S. S. 
Aeolus in the transport service. We made two trial trips during 
November and on the 26th of that month sailed on our first trip 
across. November 29 (Thanksgiving Day) we ran into a heavy 
storm, and being for the most part a crew of "boots," there was 
quite a bit of seasickness. I wasn't exactly seasick, but I never 

[ 140 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

had the same sort of feeling as when I stood on firm ground. I 
was put on watch in the crow's nest and stood four hours on, with 
a rehef for four hours. During the day, while off watch, we had 
to turn to. I knew what real hardsliip was on that trip. After 
a few trips we shipped a larger crew and had more time off be- 
tween watches. That Thanksgiving night we had early chow, 
but the lights went out before we were through eating. Lights 
were always put out a short time after sunset. The mess cooks 
being seasick left everything standing, and that night when it 
began to get rough and the ship started rolling, everything 
started moving. With just a couple of dim blue lights to light 
up our quarters, I had spread my hammock on the deck and 
prepared to get a few hours sleep before going on watch, when 
things began to happen. First, a pot of spaghetti, left over from 
supper, started across the deck and turned over, spilling its con- 
tents all over. Then the mess-gear lockers turned over, spreading 
cups, bowls and plates free to roll on their noisy way. Then 
the victrola records, ditty-boxes, buckets, sea-chests, benches and 
tables joined the melee. Water from the waves, breaking over the 
forecastle, came down the ventilators and made matters worse. 
From my position on the deck I kept a table away from me with 
one leg, while I held on to a pipe which was conveniently near, 
until it came time to go on watch. We secured everything in 
the morning, and things were quieter while the storm lasted, which 
was three days. On the eleventh day we sighted our convoy, 
which consisted of twelve destroyers. The cruiser and destroyer 
that had convoyed us up to that point then turned back for the 
States. In the after trips we sometimes had only a cruiser, and 
sometimes a battleship. On the fourteenth day we sighted land, 
and when we docked at St. Nazaire it surely was a relief to the 
crew, who with the heavy watches, work and rougli weather, had 
not had the time to wash clothes or even take a bath. 

We spent Christmas at St. Nazaire. Had boat races during 
the day and gave a Christmas dinner to one hundred and fifty 
French kids. At night we had a smoker and enjoyed ourselves 
quite some. We arrived back in the States January 10, 1918, 
hitting Newport News, Va., for coal and then continuing to 

[ 141 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

New York, where we loaded stores and troops and left again for 
France on February 1. From the second until the seventh trip 
we hit Brest each time. Made our second trip in twenty-nine 
days, and started on our third trip March 15. At nine o'clock 
on the third night out, while attempting to get out of the way 
of the Sibony, who had jammed her rudder and headed for us, 
we rammed the Huron amidships, smashing her up quite some and 
rolling back our bow plates, leaving a hole three feet wide from 
forecastle to the water-line. General quarters was sounded and 
all went to their Abandon Ship stations. Lights were turned on, 
and after the damage was ascertained both ships went back to 
New York and dry-dock. After six weeks in dry-dock we started 
our rush trips, staying in France about two or three days, and 
five or six in the States. On our fifth trip back to the States, 
when about four hours out from Brest, a destroyer dropped two 
"ash cans" on a submarine astern of us, making one less that we 
had to contend with. During the submarine campaign in our 
waters, about 5 :30 a. m. one morning, when only three days out 
from the States, General Quarters was sounded and all hands 
hustled out of their hammocks to their stations. The crew had 
just reached their stations when the starboard fore and aft guns 
opened fire. After firing three rounds apiece, the guns ceased fir- 
ing, and we all wondered whether it was a false alarm or not. After 
waiting about five minutes we were beginning to feel disappointed 
(we used to actually pray for a submarine to show up and give 
us a bit of excitement) when all of a sudden a periscope flashed 
through the water about 4000 yards on the starboard quarter. 
Our guns immediately opened fire and the periscope disappeared, 
while we maneuvered out of position and put on full speed. The 
same day we received a wireless call for help from the oil tanker 
Jennings which was being shelled by a submarine off the Capes of 
Virginia. All hands were ordered to sleep above decks that night, 
and the 12-4 watch was ordered to keep a sharp lookout for 
survivors. We saw nothing that night, but the following day we 
ran into a sea of oil that spread for miles around. We had only 
the one encounter with a sub, but most every trip we had warnings 
and scares. 

[ 142 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

This past November we ran aground off St. George, Staten 
Island, while coming up the stream at night and were stuck there 
until the following evening, when tugs pulled us out of the mud. 
Our eighth trip we made to St. Nazaire, and the ninth and last 
to Basen, about ten miles from Bordeaux. We arrived in the 
States on December 31, spending Christmas at sea. On our way 
to France this last time we had a very rough trip. One night 
in particular seemed like a veritable nightmare. The wind was 
blowing a regular hurricane and the waves were mountain high. 
The ship was rolling at 42°, and everything that wasn't secured 
was rolling about the decks. It was impossible to stand up 
without holding on to some support. The crew was called out at 
nine o'clock to secure the lifeboats. The majority of them had 
been wrecked by the storm. The waves washed over us, breaking 
doors and going down the passageways and hatches. The steer- 
ing gear broke and we were doing stunts until the damage was 
repaired. Then a fire broke out in the after-hold, and the biggest 
part of the night was gone before we turned in. When we reached 
port we were a pretty well battered ship and crew. 

I was a first class seaman, and worked on deck up to three 
months ago, when I was placed as "striker" to a gunner's mate. 
Had charge of a five-inch gun, a one pounder and a magazine; 
also helped on the mine sweeping apparatus. At the end of 
March will be rated Third Class Gunner's Mate, if I'm still on 
this ship. I have made 15 full trips. 

I received my discharge from the service September 20, 1919, 
and re-entered the employ of the Hanover National Bank. 



GUSTAVE E. OHLANDER 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., March 17, 1891. 
Attended Public and High Schools of that City. 



Ai 



.FTER graduating from high school and spending about two 
years in the wholesale grocery business, I came with the Hanover 
National Bank in the fall of 1911. Left their employ to join 

[ 143 ] 



»»*~-K..--W.-^.^^^..^>^ > <H>.. ^■. ■ . 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the United States Service on the 11th of October, 1917. After 
a brief stay of three weeks at Camp Upton, L. I., I was trans- 
ferred to the 82nd Division, which was then being organized at 
Camp Gordon, Ga. Then followed a period of light physical 
training and drilling succeeded by a second period of intensive 
training in trench and open warfare. 

In March of 1918 the Division was given its final inspections 
by Washington officials and pronounced to be in readiness for 
service overseas, so on April 11 we started north for embarkation 
to France. On April 25 we set sail from New York on the good 
ship Keyher, an English freighter which had been turned into a 
troop transport. The twelve-day voyage was endured surpris- 
ingly well by all, except of course the usual percentage of un- 
fortunates who succumbed to the inclination of seasickness. Life 
preservers were worn at all times and constant watch was kept 
for U-boats, which were sighted upon one occasion only and then 
evidently scared away or destroyed by depth charges fired by 
several of the transports and destroyers in the convoy. 

On May 8 we landed at Liverpool, England, and entrained 
for Camp Wendell Downs, Winchester, England. A few days 
later we had the honor of visiting London and being reviewed 
by his Majesty, King George V; later being entertained at lunch- 
eon by a detachment of British troops. 

The following night we crossed the Channel and landed at La 
Havre, France. Two months of intensive training under the 
supervision of English and French experts followed, until the 
night of June 25, when under the cover of darkness, we took over 
the front lines in the Lagney sector. Here we got our first ex- 
periences in real trench life with a real enemy in front of us and 
real shells whistling through the air, occasionally bursting uncom- 
fortably close to us. 

In August we moved to the Marbache sector, where we took 
part in the great St. Mihiel Drive which started September 12. 
About a week later we were taken by auto trucks to the Argonne 
Forest where the Big Drive started September 25. Our Division 
was placed in reserve for the whole First Army, but by October 1 
we were on the move towards the Front, where we took up our 

[ 144 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

position on the night of October 7. The succeeding twenty-five 
days were filled with hardships and dangers that called for sacri- 
fices and deeds of heroism from every man, a large number mak- 
ing the supreme sacrifice. Under constant artillery and machine- 
gun fire day and night we pushed ahead for seventeen kilometers, 
until finally relieved on November 3. I had the misfortune my- 
self of having been taken sick and sent to the hospital a few days 
previous. 

On March 16, 1919, at six p. m. the U. S. S. George Washing- 
ton steamed out of the harbor of Brest, heading directly for the 
setting sun, while the ship's band played "Homeward Bound." 
Incidentally, I was one of the fortunate ones on board, being a 
member of a Casualty Company. After a most delightful trip we 
sighted "God's Own Country" on the morning of March 25. 
Discharge from the Service followed on April 4. 

(Mr. Ohlander being too modest, the Editors take the liberty 
of adding the following:) 

"Private First Class G. E. Ohlander was cited in General Or- 
ders No. 2, Headquarters 325th Infantry, A. E. F., as follows : 

1. The Regimental Commander takes pleasure in citing to the 
Command the following officers and enlisted men for bravery in 
action and devotion to duty under most trying circumstances dur- 
ing the Meuse-Argonne operations October 10-31, 1918: 

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS GUSTAVE E. OHLANDER, 
COMPANY "C" — For conspicuous bravery in action near St. 
Juvin, France, during October 1918. He delivered messages un- 
der heavy fire with total disregard of his own personal safety. 

2. The total disregard of personal safety in the performance 
of their duty calls for the highest praise. Their conduct under 
fire will ever be a source of pride to all members of the 325th 
Infantry. 

(Signed) W. M. WHITMAN 

Colonel 325th Infantry." 



[ 145 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

ROY H. OLSEN 

Born at Escanaba, Mich., March 7, 1897. 



E) 



iNLISTED in the Aviation Corps the latter part of January, 
1918, but was not called until June 1. Then ordered to report 
to Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas, and drilled through the intense 
heat for two months. Later transferred to the Aviation Ground 
School at the University of Illinois, Champaign, 111. 

Mr. Olsen writes: 

"In one week we had six examinations ; i. e., wireless, engines, 
carburetors, ignition, airplanes, military, and I passed every one 
of them. The one that gets through this course has to have a 
good mind for retaining things, because you have to get it as 
you go along, and it's never repeated." 

[It is regretted that Mr. Olsen not having returned, at this 
time, his story is incomplete.] 



EDWARD E. OSTERHOLM 

Born at Gardner, Mass., June 2, 1891. 

Attended Grammar and High Schools; also Business College. 



E= 



ENTERED the employ of the Hanover National Bank April 1, 
1917. Entered the service April 25, 1918, with the "Lightning 
Seventy-eighth." On April 26 I was on my way to the American 
training camp at Wrightstown, N. J., arriving there the same 
day with hundreds of other recruits. The first few days were 
spent in examinations, shots in the arm (as they were called) 
and some shots they were. Three days later I donned the Ameri- 
can uniform and was a soldier. All the recruits arriving in 
Camp Dix on the 26th expected to be there for at least three or 
four months, but it was only three weeks, the 20th day of May, 
when most of us boarded a transport in New York harbor and 
sailed for what was called "Over There." No bands or great 
crowds to cheer us off, but in the early morning hours, before 

[ 146 ] 




HARRY NUSS 



G. E. OHLANDER 




ROY H. OLSON 



EDWARD OSTERHOLM 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

people were thinking about getting up, we were marched aboard 
transports. While passing down the harbor we were kept off 
the decks and the last I saw, as we were told that we could come 
up on deck, was Coney Island in the distance. 

Sixteen days later, June 5, we landed in England. If every- 
body felt as I did, to set foot on dry land once more, I can say 
we were a happy crowd. On the way over, on June 2, we had 
two submarine attacks, but they were driven off both times by 
English destroyers, without any damage to us. 

On June 11 my regiment, the 309th, was marching up the sand 
dunes behind Calais. We stayed here for only a few days rest, 
but oh ! such a restless camp it was, for every night that place 
was mercilessly bombed. We saw enough of show right here to 
know that there was a war going on; and a few days later we were 
moved behind Arras to receive our training within sound of the 
big guns. Here again the Germans air-raided us every night 
that it was clear, and many men that have seen some of the 
hardest fighting will tell you that these air raids near St. Pol 
and the railhead at Tinques were the worst feature of the war. 
This chaos of death and noise in the darkness, when you stand 
defenseless, is a mean situation. 

August 19 we received orders to move to another sector, this 
time an American sector. The Arras front was held by English 
and Australians. We felt as if we were going home, to think 
we were to be with other Americans, and best of all to get Ameri- 
can rations. I believe we thought about the eats more than any- 
thing else, for we were good and tired of English chow. We 
detrained after three days' travel in French pullmans (box cars) 
at a place called Vitry, and here received more extensive training 
of the sort that made you welcome the end of the day when you 
could rest. We knew something was coming off soon, and it was 
not long in coming. On September 9 and 10 we began to move 
forward, and passed through Jeanne D'Arc's country, Neufcha- 
teau, and on to Toul. After that the real thing began. We 
climbed into French lorries and were rolled along toward the 
front. 

You all know what happened on September 12. That was the 

[ 147 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

day of the first American offensive at St. Mihiel. That night 
we hiked through rain and mud, and some mud there was, for it 
had then been raining almost continually for a week. Occa- 
sionally some one would stumble and fall; all you could hear 
would be a splash and some one cursing the one who started the 
old war. That was the time the boys missed their homes back in 
the good old United States if they ever did. 

Our division arrived on the hills behind the lines to see the 
"kick off" of that fight. We could see the flashes of the guns, 
the greatest roar of artillery that had ever been let off in France. 
Then we crept up as the line advanced, and I never knew how dark 
it could be until then. It was raining and we could have no 
fires and no hot food. In the black hours before dawn of Sep- 
tember 14 we crawled forward and took the line, relieving the 
Fift}'^ Division in the sector from Xammes to Jaulny and Thiau- 
court. We held these lines from September 14 to October 5, 
which is a long stretch under any conditions. It was here near 
Jaulny that Oscar Swanson, my dear friend and also a friend 
of many of the boys of the Hanover National Bank, was killed 
by a high explosive shell. After October 5 followed some memor- 
able nights. Thoroughly tired out and strained with our first 
vigorous experience in the line; dirty, exhausted with lack of 
rest, and with long spells without hot food, we started a 
forced march of fifty miles through the mud, in the cold rain and 
black darkness across the base of St. Mihiel toward the Argonne. 

From October 10 to 15, we were in reserve behind Grandpre. 
October 15 we took over the line from the 77th Division, and 
our front line extended from Grandpre to St. Juvin. Here "hell 
broke loose" (as we called it) and there was something doing 
every minute. It was here where we smashed the pivot of Grand- 
pre and the Bois des Loges, and then the Hun ran. From then 
on it became a chase. The final blow north of Grandpre was 
delivered on November 1, and before the dawn of the 3d, the 
Germans seeing the game was up, turned and headed for Germany. 
Without rest, without food, without blankets, we doughboys picked 
up and dashed after for twenty-four kilometers before being 
relieved on the 6th by the 42nd Division. 

[ 148 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

The 42nd Division had a hard time catching up to us, and 
the event is referred to as the time the "Rainbow caught the 
Lightning." We had reached the town of Tannay, and this 
place is called "Finis la Guerre" for the 78th. We did not know 
then, however, that it was finis. We onlj knew that we had 
given the Hun a good drubbing, and that we were going back 
for a much needed rest and something to eat. Food is the one 
thing we were all looking for, and the cry "When do we eat?" 
became old. We trudged down the road through Briquenay and 
those who saw us will never forget. We were so tired that we 
staggered rather than walked. Our eyes were dazed; our uni- 
forms torn and wet, caked to the shoulders with mud; and we 
all needed a first-class shave and haircut. And while we marched 
the rain kept up, the mud splashed, the guns rumbled ; but nothing 
mattered — we were going back to rest. 

A few days later the war was over, although it was a long 
time before it finally dawned on most of us that anything like 
that could have happened. Not until we reached St. Menehould 
on November 12 did we get the straight dope about the Armistice 
having been signed. From St. Menehould we boarded a train 
and were taken down to the picturesque country of France, Cote 
d'Or, west of Dijon, where we spent six months cleaning up and 
preparing for the homeward journey. 

On the first of May, 1919, we left this part of France for 
Bordeaux, the port of embarkation, when we were sent home as 
the ships came and were available. We are now all back, and 
glad to be in "God's Country" once more, having finished a good 
job well done. 



WILLIAM PORKLAB 

Born at New York City, March 5, 1895. 

Attended Public Schools of Maspeth, N. Y. and Newtown High 
School of Elmhurst, N. Y. 



D 



URING the school vacation periods I experienced working 
in a glass factory, a rope factory ; worked as stock clerk for 

[ 149 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

the International Publicity Company, New York; and as stenog- 
rapher for Newman Gould (salesman), 346 Broadway, New 
York. After completing my high school education I filed an ap- 
plication with the Hanover National Bank, and was assigned to 
duty as runner. 

Of all outdoor sports I have taken to baseball as the favorite. 
In the year 1916 I pitched twenty-one games of baseball and won 
the first eighteen games, losing the last three. 

I was called to the colors on September 23, 1917. My mili- 
tary career commenced in Camp Upton, L. I. While there, I 
was transferred to different Infantry Companies, finally remain- 
ing with Company I, 308th Infantry, 77th Division. During my 
stay at Camp Upton, I took a great deal of interest in military 
work, as I wished to make some sort of an impression 
in the new army. Shortly after my assignment to this Company, 
I was appointed Acting Corporal in the 4th Platoon, but only 
remained with this Company about one month and a half; then 
was ordered to proceed to Fort Jay, N. Y., for immediate over- 
seas duty; and there was placed in what was called a Casual 
Camp, which I, as well as others, interpreted to mean that those 
who were placed at this camp were subject to orders to go wher- 
ever assigned; in other words, did not belong to any special or- 
ganization. 

I did not experience much excitement while at Fort Jay. While 
awaiting orders to sail for France, we were kept on the job, 
doing Guard Duty. I did not make much of a guard the first 
time I was given the "swell job," as a prisoner managed to get 
away from a group that I was guarding. I was reprimanded by 
a Captain, whose name I do not now recall, who threatened that 
if the prisoner was not found, I would have to serve that prisoner's 
term, which I understood ranged from five to fifteen years, but 
cannot rely on the truth of the statement. Thereafter my mind 
was made up that I would be more careful. 

On December 2, 1917, we were ordered to France. We boarded 
the U. S. S. George Washington, December 3, 1917. There were 
about five thousand colored troops and about two thousand white 
troops on this ship that day. It was the first trip this ship or 

[ 150 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

transport was to make to Europe, after being taken from the 
German Government, and we were honored in this respect. Some 
time late that night the good ship steamed out of the harbor. 
We sailed out secretly, and very few knew what time we left port. 
My desire was to see New York once more, before sailing for 
France, but that desire was not satisfied, as we faced nothing but 
water the following morning. Another troop-ship, the Huron, 
accompanied us. A torpedo boat and the battle cruiser Montana 
convoyed. The voyage was very pleasant for two days, until we 
approached a storm which lasted three days, the result being that 
most of the boys were sea-sick. A Hoover sign "Save food and 
win the war" would have been superfluous that day. After the 
storm, the ocean remained calm for about two weeks, until the 
Bay of Biscay was reached ; then we experienced a good shake-up 
for almost a week. Three engineer soldiers (white) while doing 
guard duty during the storm were washed overboard. I under- 
stood also that one soldier was washed overboard and washed 
back on deck. The lifeboats were destroyed ; and then it was 
rumored that the George Washington was reported as sunk by 
another transport that found one of the lifeboats. One day 
the crews on the boat had target practice and we were amazed 
as well as startled when we heard the first crash go "bang." At 
first we thought that a torpedo had struck the ship, but soon 
found out that the gunners were getting ready to give Fritz a 
good hot time if he appeared out of the water. The following 
day we were in the danger zone. 

On the night of December 6 we disembarked at Brest, making 
twenty-three days in all on water. I felt in perfect health 
throughout the entire trip, but as soon as I got off the boat had 
an attack of grippe. At 10:30 o'clock on the night of December 
20 we were placed in a warehouse for a night's rest. I could not 
sleep that night because I was very sick, but did get a good laugh 
when I observed the boys sleeping on the tops of bags of sugar 
which were stacked in piles fifteen feet high, imagining what would 
happen if they fell while asleep. The next morning we were all 
classified according to our occupations, and were given orders 
to proceed to different destinations, mine being Is-sur-Telle, 

[ 151 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

France. There were seventeen others besides me, who were also 
given orders to proceed to this town. We were given seven days' 
rations, which consisted of hardtack, corned beef, tomatoes 
(canned), and jam. The next move we had to make was to climb 
about one hundred and fifty stone steps in order to reach the 
railroad station. It was a peculiar sight to see us all climbing 
up the stairway with packs on our backs, and in addition to 
this load to have both arms strewn with seven days' rations. 
After the climb and a considerable hike, we reached the railroad 
station. I was very much amused by the type of a French en- 
gine, as well as their trains. The engine particularly appeared 
to me like a big boiler with a spool on top. The whistle was of 
a high pitch and sounded very peculiar. My amusement that 
day can be described best by mentioning that I felt as if I were 
in the steeplechase at Coney Island. We were placed in the 
famous box cars and almost enjoyed the seven day and night 
ride to reach the destination. While riding through the French 
towns and villages I was very much moved to see nearly all the 
women dressed in black, and the absence of young men. All that 
could be seen were little children, women and old men. The 
people were then on the verge of starvation. I felt very sorry for 
the little boys and girls as they looked so hungry, so gave them 
some of my army rations as we stopped at the different railroad 
stations. I did not eat much myself, being sick at the time, so 
thought the food would be much more appreciated by hungry 
mouths. I shall never forget the sight presented when I saw 
the way those children ate what I had given them. The women 
thanked us many times and, in my estimation, we felt big in their 
eyes. 

On December 30, about 10 :30 p. m., we reached our destination, 
where an American officer directed us to the French barracks. 
It was snowing very hard that night. I heard singing, and soon 
learned that it was the French soldiers. We entered the barracks 
and there saw young French soldiers singing the song called 
"Madelon." One French soldier sang the introductory part of 
the song, while the rest joined in the chorus. They all had flowers 
stuck on their helmets, but I do not know what kind of flower 

[ 152 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

it could have been for that time of the year. They were all 
very cheerful, especially for a bunch of troops who knew they 
were leaving for the Front that very night. Suddenly a sharp 
command was given, and all the soldiers ceased singing, grasped 
their packs, went out and left the place in silence. I was really 
surprised to see all this cheerfulness after considering the length 
of time France had been at war. After the departure of the 
French soldiers, we were given orders to proceed to a billet located 
about a mile from the French barracks just described. Again we 
put on our packs and hiked for the billet. It was then 11:30 
p. M. As soon as we arrived, the sergeant in charge of this par- 
ticular billet was instructed to prepare coffee and some bread 
for us. Not one will ever forget the hot coffee given that night, 
as it was the first warm drink we had taken for seven days, and 
we felt as if new life had been given us. The same night we were 
told to go to the stable nearby and get straw for ourselves to 
prepare a bed on the stone floor. We all did this that night, 
and appreciated a first decent night's sleep, even on a stone floor, 
for we were not disturbed when asleep to change for trains. 

The following day we reported for duty. I was assigned to 
duty as stenographer to Captain Kidwell, with Q. M. C. Detach- 
ment, A. P. O., No. 712, A. E. F., Is-Sur-Telle. About four 
months later I was ordered to report to the Property Officer for 
duty. My work with this officer was similar to that of secretary. 
About September 22 I received my warrant promoting me to 
the rank of Corporal in the Quartermaster Corps. It is very 
difficult for me to give a description of what my duties consisted 
and to talk of the things I have done, so instead of devoting space 
to a delineation of myself, I furnish a description of what was done 
by all, and the writer as one of the members that helped : 

Just a few years ago, if you or I had made a tour of France 
there would have been a possibility that we would have stopped 
for a few minutes in the quaint little village of Is-sur-TclIe, and 
on looking around would have noticed that it was surrounded by 
some of the most beautiful hills that you have ever looked upon, 
and by a little closer observation would have noticed that running 
almost through the little village are the most beautiful little 

[ 153 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

streams, trickling and splashing over stones and pebbles on into 
the great unknown, never to return again. Until about four 
years ago this little village had a population of 2000, and was 
scarcely known to the general public ; but at the call of the bugle 
for Democracy its population diminished, until it had a little less 
than 1000 inhabitants. When the United States declared war 
upon Germany, Is-sur-Telle was just a few miles in the rear of 
the Front Line trenches, and it was here that the American 
Expeditionary Forces started to build up one of the largest Ad- 
vance Depots in France, in which several branches of the service 
were represented, the first being that of the Quartermaster. The 
construction of the Advance Quartermaster Depot No. 1 (Service 
of Supplies) here began. The first United States soldiers were 
assigned to duty here a year ago. They slept in their "pup 
tents" through all kinds of very disagreeable weather until bar- 
racks Avere built for their comfort. In November, 1917, the 
strenuous work of constructing the many large warehouses began. 
Trainload after trainload of construction material and supplies 
of all kinds arrived in large quantities, until this depot became 
the largest in the world. Company after company of soldiers 
were sent here almost incessantly, until the population reached 
20,000 instead of the little handful of soldiers that were here 
when we first came. It was through the good work and coopera- 
tion of all that it was possible for this depot to feed and supply 
the whole American Army at the Front. The Depot was kept 
running day and night, with both day and night shifts, which 
kept fifteen trainloads of supplies of all kinds moving daily to the 
forces at the Front, to be distributed along the different rail- 
heads, where they were immediately delivered to the various 
divisions and organizations that were located just behind the 
lines. By d3aiamiting incessantly the rocky hills a railroad yard 
was built that has no equal, and the tracks alone, if assembled 
into one straight track, would cover a distance of one hundred 
and fifty miles. There are two tracks running between the dif- 
ferent strings of warehouses, which make it possible to load and 
unload from both sides of the warehouses simultaneously, mak- 
ing the system almost automatic. The main office at the Depot, 

[ 154 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

where the "Paper Work" was carried on and run similar to that 
of any large corporation, was composed of seven different 
branches, made up as follows: The Record Branch (Personnel, 
Records, etc) ; Finance (Purchases) ; Subsistence Branch (Ra- 
tions and Supplies; Property (Clothing, etc.); Transportation 
Branch (Moving of trains, etc.) ; Wood Supply Branch and Sta- 
tistical Branch (Re-checking, classifying, filing). Each of these 
branches was supported and run by sixty to seventy enlisted men, 
and six to ten officers (Finance excepted). 

The several other depots were Air Service Depot No. 1 ; Ad- 
vance Engineer Depot No. 1 ; Advance Medical Depot No. 1 ; 
Advance Ordnance Depot No. 1 ; Advance Signal Corps Depot 
No. 1 ; and the Chemical War Service Depot No. 1. In addition 
to these, eight Anti-aircraft Batteries were stationed on the 
hills ready for action from hostile planes. These Depots were 
just as essential as the Quartermaster's Depot for the comfort 
and welfare of the forces at the Front. There were quite a 
number of other valuable assets among which was the largest 
bakery in the world, a very important factor, as there were con- 
sumed per month 51,000,000 pounds of flour, turning out each 
day 1,500,000 loaves of bread. All this made up Camp Williams, 
with much more to add — the two Y. M. C. A. buildings, the 
Knights of Columbus, and the Washington-Lafayette Masonic 
Club, each furnishing entertainment, writing rooms, canteen ser- 
vice and diversions. 

On my second leave I had a wonderful time climbing mountains. 
The French Alps are in this section; in fact, I understand Alle- 
vard-les-Bains to be in the heart of the French Alps. Two 
American soldiers and I took a long hike, halting at noon-time 
at a restaurant for a bite to eat. As I entered the restaurant I 
asked in broken French whether we could obtain something to eat, 
and the answer to my inquiry, in well spoken English was : "This 
is the place." It was an old English woman who replied, and 
we were very much surprised to have this kind of answer as a 
greeting. There was another old woman there also who came 
from Alsace. She was very much delighted in meeting American 
soldiers because (as she remarked) they meant so much to her. 

[ 155 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

The eats were plentiful, and while we were eating we carried on a 
conversation with the old English woman, who informed us that 
she was visiting France when the war broke out but was afraid to 
return to England on account of the submarines which she feared 
very much, so decided to remain in tiiis remote spot until per- 
fectly sure that she could go back home in safety. She knew 
France well, and gave us a lot of historical information in connec- 
tion with this leave area. She also remarked that we Americans 
were generous and kind, and that we always carried good things 
in our pockets. Whenever we were out on a hike, we managed to 
carry some chocolate and cigarettes, which we gave to the chil- 
dren, old men and women. My heart was with the old men and 
women, whom I respected very much. I also had sympathy for 
the youngsters. The Americans are looked upon as an ideal 
class, and the French people invite hospitality to extremes. They 
can't do enough to make one feel at home. The scenery is won- 
derful. We were placed in the best hotels available and we had 
the Y. M. C. A. nearby to entertain us, making us feel like kings 
for seven days. I have seen a number of the large cities of 
France and feel that I know more about them (I am ashamed 
to say) than our own United States. 

There were three from our family in France, and all living. 
Isn't that great? My oldest brother, whom I had not seen for 
a year and a half, called on me a few days before my leave. He 
was in the Argonne fight, where he was wounded in the right arm 
by a piece of shrapnel. After a three months' stay in the hos- 
pital, he was classified in "B" class, but he insisted on being 
classified as "A," so came back to his outfit. 

On January 1, 1919, I was again presented with another war- 
rant, promoting me to Sergeant. About May 6, 1919, I left St. 
Nazaire, France, for the U. S. A., arriving at Newport News. 
Discharged June 3, 1919, thus ending my service with Uncle 
Sam as a member of the A. E. F. 



[ 156 ] 




WILLIAM PORKLAB 



CHARLES PROCTOR 




JAMES PURCELL 



G. L. PY, JR. 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

CHARLES FRED PROCTOR 

Born at New York City, September 9, 1894. 

Attended Public School No. 11 ; Newtown High School and Ameri- 
can Institute of Banking. 



A 



NAVY LIFE IN AN OFFICE 



FTER hearing of great stories of seaman life on board the 
United States transports, of the health, ruggedness and vast 
experiences obtained while in the service, I decided to be a sailor. 
So with the help of a sailor friend, who had seen foreign service, 
I was enlisted in the Naval Reserve Force and given a rating as 
Second Class seaman. My enlistment card bore the inscription 
"Eligible for Sea Dut}^" but it seems that they reconsidered the 
matter and made it "Cost Inspection work." 

After a week of expectations at home I received my orders 
to go to the Lang Products Company, Whitestone, L. I. At this 
plant they manufactured aeroplane propellers, and being a Navy 
contract had to be inspected by naval aviation men and sailors, 
such as myself. I was placed in the office with seven other sailors 
to do Cost Inspection work. This proved quite contrary to my 
anticipation; going to an office instead of a boat, handling the 
pen instead of the mop, tossing ledgers instead of the sails, and 
the nearest I got to water was the water-cooler. 

People who think that the navy life is rough make a big mis- 
take; at least, so it was in my case. Our hours were from nine 
A. M. to five p. M., after which we were allowed to go home, or 
wherever we pleased; in fact, we had the same privileges as any 
other office man, with the exception of drawing a large salarv. 
Our pay was only $35.90 per month; so you can easily imagine 
why a sailor is thrifty. Nevertheless, we had entertainments and 
dances at Flushing, given by benevolent war workers, at which 
we had no expense, especially the War Camp Community 
Service, which had a Canteen at Flushing. This, I understand, 
was the most beautiful place of its kind in the United States. 
Here we could get meals at cost, and free dances Wednesday and 
Friday nights. 

[ 157 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

We had no dangerous experiences or thrilling events to relate 
outside of our fight to be released from the Service after the 
Armistice was signed. Getting in the Navy was easy enough, 
but getting out was a hard job. One day to enter the service 
and four months to get out. 



JAMES PURCELL 

Born at Tremont, Pa., in 1888. 

Attended Public and High Schools; also Business College of 
Tremont, Pa. 

1 ENLISTED on the 13th of April, 1918, and shortly thereafter 
I was transferred to the U. S. S. Frank H. Buck, on which ship I 
served until I was discharged. I made six trips to the British 
Isles, carrying oil to our destroyers and battleships at Queens- 
town, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Firth of Forth, Scapa Flow, etc. 
We encountered and sunk a submarine in mid-ocean on September 
1, 1918, after a battle lasting half an hour, during which time 
over ninety shots were exchanged. The submarine was one of 
Germany's biggest under-sea boats, carrying two six-inch guns. 
I believe we were the only merchant ship to get a submarine, 
although I am not positive about this ; but I have inquired and 
no one seems to know of another ship having a battle with a sub 
such as we had. Our Gunner's Mate was an old Navy man, who 
had put about sixteen years in the service, and I do not know 
what we would have done without him, as most of our officers were 
men who had never been on a ship before the war broke out. Of 
course our Captain was an old "sea dog," having been Captain 
of the ship before she was taken over by the Government. 

I will endeavor to describe the engagement: We were return- 
ing light from a French port, after having carried a cargo. It 
was a Sunday morning, September 1, 1918, about 8:30 o'clock 
when the alarm for General Quarters was sounded. We all had 
our positions to go to, these having been assigned to us on our 
first trip, and we had been drilled in them every day, so that every 

[ 158 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

man was in his place inside of a minute. At first nearly every- 
one thought it was only a drill, until we heard the Captain say: 
"There she is," about fourteen hundred yards away, and giving 
orders to fire on her at that same time. But before our gunners 
were in place and had the distance, they fired two shots at us, 
both of them falling about four hundred yards away and turning 
up the water. We fired several times at her with our forward 
three-inch gun, but could not reach her, while the shots from the 
submarine were coming closer to us. We then turned so that 
our after six-inch gun could be brought into action, and from 
then on it was a question of which would be the first to get the 
other. By this time the shots from the submarine were falling 
all around us as they had two six-inch guns to our one. How- 
ever, our ammunition gangs and guns crew were banging away 
as fast as it was possible to do. We could see the flashes of 
their guns and hear their shells sing from the time they left their 
guns until they dropped about us. They had our range all right 
and several of the shells came within ten feet of us, in fact, 
pieces of them were picked up all over the deck. I suppose we 
were coming just as close to them and we could see our shells kick 
up the water all around them and wondered why we couldn't hit 
them, but at such a distance, it was pretty hard to judge just 
how close you came, as the submarine only appeared to be a few 
feet long at such a distance, as we were getting farther apart all 
the time. However, the officers and Chief Gunner's mate all had 
glasses and kept us advised as to our progress, and when we 
registered a hit on our twenty-ninth shot from the six-inch gun, 
we did not need to be told by the officers, as the Chief Gunner's 
mate almost broke his neck by jumping out of a box we had rigged 
up above the gun platform for him to direct the guns crew, and 
the old skipper was so elated that he jumped around like a kid 
with a new toy. They fired again and the next shot was also a 
hit and that was the last we saw of the submarine. 



[ 159 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

GEORGE L. PY, Je. 

Born at BrooUyii, N. Y., May 7, 1890. 

Attended Boys'' High School and New York University School of 
Commerce, Accounts and Finance. 



0, 



'N NOVEMBER 26, 1917, I enlisted in the U. S. Naval 
Reserve Force as yeoman, 2nd Class, being detailed to the Dis- 
bursing Office, Navy Yard, Brooklyn ; later qualifying for Naval 
Officers' Material School, Princeton, N. J., and secured a commis- 
sion as Ensign, Pay Corps, U. S. N. R. F. We were under 
strictly military discipline, on the go most every moment. The 
day was divided into four periods for instruction and lectures; 
the fifth period, from 8 :00 to 9 :45 p. m. for study in classrooms. 
Not being accustomed to any drilling exercises, my limbs felt a bit 
sore, but I looked forward to that wearing off in the course of 
time, so that I might graduate from the "rookie squad." W^e 
were quartered in the Graduate College, Cleveland Memorial 
Building, Princeton, N. J. ; also our Mess Hall and Class Rooms 
were situated in the same building. There was plenty of work 
for us, and every opportunity we have had was put into study, the 
course covering a period of two months, which usually at Annapo- 
lis is from six to eight months. I was temporarily stationed at 
Norfolk, and from there received my release from active duty, 
subject to the call of the Government. I then resumed my duties 
in auditing. 



NORMAN RANDELL 

Born at Lochee, Scotland, July 31, 1895. 

Attended Grammar and High Schools of Needham, Massachusetts. 



W: 



HILE in the employ of the Hanover National Bank I en- 
listed May 22, 1917, in Company K, 1st New Jersey Infantry. 
Moved to Camp McClellan, Anniston, Ala., where our regiment 
became the 113th Infantry. October 5, 1917, Company K was 

[ 160 ] 




NORMAN RANDELL 



CONRAD RENNEMANN 




SUMMERFIELD G. ROBERTS 



STEPHEN D. RODDY 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

transferred to the 104th Engineers and became Company D of 
that regiment. We left Hoboken on the U. S. S. Northern 
Pacific June 19, 1918, for France, and landed at Brest June 27. 
Proceeded indirectly to Uberkumen center sector, Haute-Alsace, 
and from there to the Meuse-Argonne front, at the time of the' 
last big drive. From there we moved north of Verdun, and dur- 
ing the various movements passed through villages of Avocourt. 
Cumieres, Brabant and Samineux, and did duty in Bois de Cheppy 
"Valley of Death," at the Cotes des Roches, and in Bois de Con- 
senvoye. Finally at RegneviUe we were relieved from duty and 
withdrew to billets in Barges and Blondefontaine. 

Returned to the United States on the U. S. S. Manchuria, May 
22, 1919. Honorably discharged May 29, 1919, at Camp Dix, 



CONRAD RENNEMANN 

Born at New York City, September 7, 1896. 
Attended Public and High Schools, New York City. 

1 ENTERED the employ of the Hanover National Bank in 
July, 1913. VV^hen the United States entered into the World 
War I enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force, May 14, 1918. 
After six weeks' training at the Pelham Bay Naval Training 
Station, I was one of the 160 men selected to go to Ellis Island 
Receiving Ship at New York. From there we were shipped 
aboard the U. S. S. Cuyama, an oil tanker, for further transfer 
to Base 17. This being all the information we received at that 
time, we knew not where we were bound. The following day, 
after we arrived aboard ship, we sailed in a convov of fifteen 
other troop-ships and freighters, escorted by one American 
destroyer and two cruisers. It was a wonderful sight, as we 
sailed out of the harbor, with submarine chasers, destroyers and 
aeroplanes chasing hither and thither, ever keeping a watchful 
eye in our behalf. Except for a little rough weather, we had an 
uneventful trip, finally arriving in Gourock, a small town on the 

[ 161 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

west coast of Scotland, where we spent one day. We then 
continued our journey by rail, passing through Glasgow and 
Perth, to Inverness, located in the northeast coast of Scotland, 
on Moray Firth above Aberdeen, which we found out to be Mine 
Assembling Base 18, where we spent the night. The next day 
we were divided into ten groups, each group being assigned to 
various mine-laying vessels of Squadron 1, U. S. Atlantic Fleet. 
Together with fourteen others, I was assigned to the U. S. S. 
Canonicus (which was my future home for the duration of the 
war) located at Base 17, Invergordon, Scotland. Shortly after 
boarding the ship we were assigned to our billets below decks. 
The first things that greeted us upon entering the launching deck 
were numerous mines, tracks, turntables, winches, elevators and 
other gear used in planting the mines. Here we swung our ham- 
mocks, ate our chow and tried to make ourselves comfortable. 

The U. S. S. Canonicus (formerly the S. S. Elcid of the South- 
ern Pacific Line) was a single screw vessel 405 feet long, 20 feet 
draft, weighted 6000 tons, carried two three-inch guns, one five- 
inch gun, and had 21 officers and 400 men. There were three 
decks of mines, which were carried on tracks of steel channel bar, 
with the flanges placed inward. The small wheels on the mine 
anchor tread on the lower flange, while the upper flange pre- 
vented the mine from upsetting in heavy rolling at sea. On 
each side of the launching deck, which was the first deck below, 
were two long tracks ; the same on the next lower deck, with 
shorter tracks in between; and a similar arrangement below. 
On each deck were cross tracks, with a turntable at each inter- 
section, for the purpose of providing alternative routes for get- 
ting the mines out in case of a jam. Two launching ports were 
cut through the stern, about ten feet above the water, and about 
twenty feet of single track led from each port, forward to a 
switch connecting with either of the two long tracks. Six 
elevators were installed in the forward part of the ship to enable 
mines being brought up from below to the launching deck, where 
steam winches, which were also installed on all decks, would haul 
them aft to be laid in their turn. At the stern, just inside the 
launching ports, were mine traps, which held only one mine on a 

[ 162 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

slope, and prevented more than one going overboard at a time. 
At a central point, between the launching ports, the mining 
officer controlled the mining operations throughout the ship, by 
means of an electrical system of signal lights and gongs. Here 
he could signal any winch to stop, start or reverse. Stations 
were provided along the tracks so that sentries, in case of a jam 
or anything wrong, could signal to stop any winch and also to 
"walk back" or "all clear again." 

With mines filling so much of our living quarters, we were very 
crowded most of the time. Mines were constantly at our elbows ; 
horns and sharp corners ever ready to tear our clothes ; and 
everywhere mine tracks or turntables, half-knee high, to trip the 
unwary. Our ship carried on an average of 860 mines a trip, 
and had the record of laying the most mines in the history of the 
world. At one time, in less than four hours, she laid 860 mines, 
one mine every 15 seconds without a break. The mine itself 
weighs 1400 pounds, and consists of a sphere, an anchor, two 
small floats, and a plummet. The two floats are attached to the 
mine with about fifty feet of wire, which when the mine is laid, 
spread out from the mine, and if any object comes in contact 
with them, they in turn set off the mine. The mine sphere is 
charged with 300 pounds of molten TNT and is secured on 
the anchor by means of ship hooks, so that the mine and anchor 
go overboard together. Attached to the sphere is a long heavy 
mooring cable, which is stowed in the box-like anchor. A plum- 
met is fastened on one side of the anchor, and is used to regulate 
the depth at which the mine is to be laid. When mine and 
anchor reach the water, the plummet drops, tripping slip hooks 
and lifting the prawl of the mooring cable reel. The plummet 
cord is made the same length as it is desired to have the mine laid 
beneath the surface. The plummet, being solid metal, sinks 
faster than the bulky anchor, thus keeping the cord taut, but 
when the plummet strikes bottom, the cord slackens, releasing the 
prawl, which locks the reel. The anchor continuing to sink, 
draws the mine down until the anchor strikes bottom. 

As soon as all the ships in the squadron were loaded with 
these mines, stores, coal, etc., and had the necessary repairs 

[ 163 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

made, we received our sailing orders from our flagship, the 
V. S. S. San Francisco. We then sailed out, in two columns, and 
under a convoy of about thirteen British destroyers, feeling fine 
until we hit Pentland Firth, which was very rough most of the 
time. Then the fun began. Things would go flying back and 
forth, and if any of us was not feeling in the proper condition, 
he would generally man the rail. Even though we felt quite sea- 
sick and tired at times, we had to stand our watches and attend 
to our other duties. Besides our daily routine of work, we had 
fire, collision, man overboard, abandon ship, and gun drills. 
While out at sea, we stood our different watches, four hours on 
and four hours off, and after coming off watch at night, we had 
to sleep on the deck wherever we could find a place, so that we 
were ready for any emergencies. 

When the marker buoy is sighted, which shows where the pre- 
vious mining operations were left off. General Quarters would be 
sounded. The men would then stop everything they were doing 
and go to their mining stations as quickly as possible. The 
squadron would then take a preliminary formation, twin ships 
together into a line abreast, stretching about a mile and a half 
long. Then after a brief steadying interval, down would come 
the planting signal, and overboard would go the first mine from 
each ship. Being one of the gun crew, I had to stand two hours 
as lookout on the forward gun platform, and two hours as look- 
out in the foretop, until mining operations were completed. This 
would generall}' last for about four hours, during which time the 
crew would push the mines, run the winches, hoist mines on eleva- 
tors from lower decks to launching deck, signal back and forth, 
etc. At times we would hear a deep rumbling sound like thunder ; 
the ship would vibrate ; and upon looking to the rear of the ships, 
at a few miles distant, you would see big spouts of water, caused 
by one or more mines exploding. Quite often these mines would 
explode about 500 yards away from the ships, which was quite 
a sensation, as it made the ships vibrate so that we thought they 
would split in halves. Then again we had to keep a sharp look- 
out for floating mines, torpedoes, or submarines, because if any 
mine, torpedo, or well-placed enemy shot had struck any one of 

[ 164 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

us, it would have meant the destruction of the ship or probably 
the loss of the whole fleet, or, as our commander said: "There 
would not be an identification tag left of any of us." 

On our last mining excursion we ran into the worst storm 
during my experience while mine laying. The ship pitched and 
rolled so that we could hardly eat or stand on our feet, and we 
had to hold on to anything within reach. Life-boats began to 
break loose, life-rafts were smashed and washed overboard, and the 
mines broke their lashings as if cut by a knife. When we came off 
watch, drenched to the skin, we had to help lash the mines, boats, 
etc., and occasionally drop on the deck in our wet clothes and 
snatch an hour or so of sleep. This kept up for a day and a 
night, and in the meantime we sailed around in a circle until it 
calmed down. Mining operations were then resumed, and as soon 
as completed we turned around and sailed back to our base. On 
our way back, we cleaned the ship, and glad were we when we 
could lie down and sleep for a few hours. As soon as we arrived 
in port, we gave the ship a thorough cleaning , washed and 
painted the sides and smoke-stack ; made the necessary repairs ; 
and loaded mines, stores, etc. This was kept up until the day 
we received the glad news of the signing of the Armistice, which 
was a day of rejoicing for us, as it meant our sailing back home 
soon to the good old U. S. A. 

The mine field was 230 miles long, from 5 to 15 miles wide, con- 
tained 70,000 mines (56,580 having been laid by the American 
squadron) stretching from the Orkney Islands, Scotland, to the 
coast of Norway, and was completed in nine months. The mines 
were furnished by the U. S. Government; shipped over in parts, 
in small freighters ; and assembled in our Bases 17 and 18, 
Inverness and Invergordon, Scotland. 

On December 1, 1918, we sailed around the northern part of 
Scotland passing through Scapa Flow, where we reviewed the 
British Grand Fleet and the German High Sea Fleet, which sur- 
rendered to the Allies. We then continued our trip down through 
the North Channel, Irish Sea, and St. George's Channel to Port- 
land, England, where we remained two weeks, waiting for our final 
orders to sail to the U. S. A. In the meantime, I went to London 

[ 165 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

on a five day furlough, visiting the Tower of London, Westmins- 
ter Abbey, Houses of Parliament, and other interesting places. 
Finally we received the glad news to sail to Newport News, Va., 
and after a little stormy weather in which our flagship broke down, 
causing us to go to Ponta Del Garda, Azores, for coal and re- 
pairs, we arrived in the States on the morning of January 3, 
1919. We then unloaded mines in Yorktown, Va. ; from there 
went into dry dock in Boston, Mass. ; stripped the ship of all 
mining gear ; turned her into a transport ; and made three trips 
to Bordeaux, St. Nazaire, and Basseus, France, bringing home the 
Army Artillery Park of San Francisco ; part of the 88th Division ; 
and some casuals. 

On August 4, 1919, we were all discharged or released from 
active duty, and I then resumed my work at the Hanover Na- 
tional Bank. 

After all there is no place like the good old U. S. A. 



SUMMERFIELD G. ROBERTS 

Born at Dallas, Texas, October 17, 1891. 

Attended University of Texas, receiving the a. b. degree in 1914; 
and Harvard University, receiving the m. b. a. degree in 1916. 



w. 



HEN war was declared by the United States against Ger- 
many I was in the employment of the Hanover National Bank. 
The next month I entered the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at 
Harvard University, training under French Officers. In May 
1917, 1 took the examination for entrance into the Navy, and was 
commissioned in the Regular Navy June 29, 1917. 

After completing a three months course of instruction I was 
ordered to become an instructor in the Training School for Naval 
Reserve Officers at Washington, D. C. When this duty as an 
instructor was completed, I was ordered to the Navy Department, 
in connection with the establishment of U. S. N. Aviation Sta- 
tions on the coast of France. After several months in the Navy 
Department on this duty I went to France and became the head of 

[ 166 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

the Material and Transportation Department of the Base for U. 
S. N. Aviation Forces in France. In July 1918, 1 was transferred 
to the Headquarters of U. S. N. Aviation Forces, Foreign Ser- 
vice, Paris, France, for dutj^ at those Headquarters. 

Approximately two months later I was ordered to the Head- 
quarters of U. S. Naval Forces, operating in European waters, 
London, England. These were the headquarters of Admiral W. 
S. Sims, U. S. N. I remained on this duty as Lieutenant from 
September 1918 until several months after the Armistice. 

When demobilization of U. S. Naval Headquarters at London 
began I was ordered to duty at the headquarters of U. S. Naval 
Aviation Forces in Ireland as Second Officer, in charge of the 
complete demobilization of U. S. N. Aviation Forces in Ireland. 
These Forces comprised five widely separated Naval Aviation 
Stations from end to end of Ireland, with Overseas shipping facili- 
ties at Queenstown and Dublin. The Headquarters were at Dub- 
lin. I remained on this duty until demobilization was completed 
in August 1919. 

I returned to the United States in September 1919, after the 
completion of approximately twenty months service Overseas. 

[For his services in Ireland Mr. Roberts received from the 
Commander of U. S. Naval Forces in Europe a citation with a 
letter of commendation for the manner in which he had handled 
affairs of the Navy. During the war he received two promotions 
in rank; First from the rank of Ensign to that of Lieutenant 
(Junior Grade) ; second, from Lieutenant (Junior Grade) to that 
of Lieutenant.] 



STEPHEN D. RODDY 

Born at HoboJcen, N. J., October 13, 1896. 

Attended Public School No. 4 and High School of that City. 



M 



.Y FIRST business experience was with the Chatham and 
Phoenix National Bank, with whom I was engaged for a short 
time, leaving them to enter the employ of the Hanover National 

[ 167 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

Bank. On May 16, 1918, I enlisted in the Quartermaster Corps 
of the Army, New York City; and on May 22 was sent to Fort 
Slocum, L. I., leaving for Camp Johnson, Fla., on June 8. From 
this point I was transferred to Camp Bowie, Texas. While at 
this Camp I was detailed for guard duty, and served also in the 
Finance Department. From Camp Bowie I was sent to Call Field, 
Texas, where I also served in the Finance Department of the Avia- 
tion Corps. Being somewhat familiar with figures, I was detailed 
to the statistical work of the Property and Pay Roll Division, 
which took up all of my time. I returned to Camp Dix and was 
discharged from service March 1, 1919. 



EMIL SCHMIDT 

Born at New York, N. F., June 24, 1894. 
Attended Grammar and High Schools. 



I 



N April, 1913, I entered the employ of the Hanover National 
Bank. May 18, 1918, I was notified that I had been called in 
the draft ; and on May 21 I left for Fort Slocum, N. Y. After 
a few days' stay at Fort Slocum, I left for Camp Stuart, New- 
port News, Va., arriving there on May 25. The same afternoon 
I was sent to Norfolk, Va., to join Company K of the 48th U. S. 
Regular Infantry. Arriving at Norfolk I ate a good army 
meal and after being assigned to a tent, began thinking of the 
new task that lay before me. After a few weeks of training I 
guarded U. S. transports at Lambert's Point, Va. On June 28, 
I left Norfolk, Va., for Camp Hill, Va., where our regiment was 
mobilizing for Overseas Service. It made me feel like an old 
soldier, to think that soon I would be on my way across the "great 
pond" to take an active part in the war; but the orders were 
changed, and I then realized that I was still in the rookie class. 

During the summer months of 1918 I was guarding warehouses 
at Camp Hill, Va. This being an embarkation port, a great 
number of supplies were stored here. On August 20 my Company 
was ordered to the target range for ten days. After hiking for 

[ 168 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

a half day I reached the range. I then helped to put up our 
tents and gather brush for covering the ground in the tents. The 
following day I started out to dig trenches, and as it rained most 
of the ten days, I was always in water and mud to my knees. I 
was surely glad when it was time to get back to a real camp. 
While on the range I qualified for sharpshooter, and was also 
promoted to First Class Private. 

On September 21 my regiment left Camp Hill, Va., for Camp 
Sevier, Greenville, S. C, to join the 20th Division, which was 
then being organized. On September 25 I was transferred to 
Company K of the 89th Infantry, an entirely new organization 
which was also part of the 20th Division. After the Armistice 
was signed, the different units of the Division were separated. 

On January 20 I left Camp Sevier, S. C, for Fort Oglethorpe, 
Ga,, arriving there on January 22. My Company was then as- 
signed to Military Police duty about the City of Chattanooga 
and the Fort. It was the duty of the M. P.'s to prohibit the sale 
of liquor to uniformed men. 

On February 25 I left the Fort with several others, in an effort 
to round up a number of bootleggers that had been operating 
near the Fort. I started out at daybreak, taking enough ammu- 
nition for a month's siege. We had gone through several towns, 
entering houses and barns, cellars, etc., but getting very little 
moonshine to our credit. On our return trip through the Raccoon 
Mountains we came across a small still that had been abandoned, 
and which we took along and placed on exhibition in our head- 
quarters. 

On March 2, 1919, 1 was placed on duty in M. P. headquarters 
doing clerical work, where I remained until discharged on April 
23, 1919. 



[ 169 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

RAPHAEL M. SCHMITZ 

Born at Evansville, Ind., December 4, 1896. 

Attended Grammar School and Brooklyn Manual Training 
School. 



I 



T WAS now time to choose a career. So I decided to become 
an artist, but after three months I changed my mind and decided 
I shouldn't. Through a friend I started my career in the Han- 
over as a runner. As time passed I was initiated into the mys- 
teries of Note Telling, counting Dollar Bills and making up cou- 
pons. Somewhere about this period I arrived at my eighteenth 
year and longed to do something that would clearly establish 
the fact. The National Guard offered an opportunity and I 
enlisted — uniform, one drill a week, Decoration Day Parade, and 
everything. In June of 1916 the Guard was called out for Mexi- 
can Border patrol, and there began my wanderings. Life on the 
Border was not uninteresting. I still cherish many recollections. 
I gained the knowledge that cactus was not comfortable for 
sitting purposes. Hiking in the full Texas sunshine was hard 
work. We were taught how to snap to Attention now and then. 
We lived in the open. Altogether I enjoyed it. In the middle 
of January, 1917, I returned to the Hanover National Bank with 
renewed enthusiasm, feeling keen after the out-of-door life. Then 
Germany started to make unpleasantness and again the Guard 
was called out. On March 31, 1917, I became a Private, First 
Class, once more, and shortly afterward left for Pleasantville, 
N. Y., where my Company was to do duty protecting part of the 
water supply for New York City. The people of Westchester 
County made toy heroes of us with the outbreak of the war, and 
it became quite ordinary to accept invitations to tea, little parties, 
automobile rides and the like. Most of us made many friendships 
during those months. With a tinge of regret we returned to 
New York in August, preparatory to our intensive training period. 

The 27th Division, organized from the National Guard Units 
of New York State, trained at Camp Wadsworth, near Spartan- 
burg, S. C. It was monotonous work sometimes, and not infre- 

[ 170 ] 




EMIL SCHMIDT 



R. M. SCHMITZ 




GASTON SCHREIBER 



LOUIS H. SEE 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 
quently we were discouraged. We had expected to train but a 
few months and then get across to France. When we did get 
orders for Overseas they came so suddenly that we were almost 
unprepared for the thing that we had looked forward to for 
seven months. During the major part of the time spent in Wads- 
worth I was a Supply Sergeant, and it will always cause me to 
have an unspoken sympathy for a Supply Sergeant when I see 
one For a couple of months I acted as First Sergeant, another 
of the Army's thankless jobs. A month before sailing I was made 
a Platoon Sergeant and rested easier. It was my good fortune 
to be among those selected for an Advance Detachment, saihng 
a week or so ahead of the Division. When the Detachment 
reached France on May 18 we were sent to a Specialty School 
for a month. The course embodied some finishing touches to our 
traimng, more particularly the bayonet work. After that I 
rejoined my outfit, which was undergoing the final stages of 
training before entering the lines. We were with the British 
carried British rifles, ate British rations and smoked British so- 
called "American cigarettes." 

Around the middle of July I went into the lines to do observa- 
tion work. I was attached to a British Sergeant for a week 
getting the hang of things, how to duck 'em when they came too' 
close and all. I became personally acquainted with cooties also 
Arriving back with my company, I endeavored to give the im- 
pression of one who had seen many things beyond the scope of 
the ordinary soldier — but not for long. 

Our Battalion entered the lines around the last week of July 
and was initiated into trench life. On July 28 I was sent to 
an Officers Training School and had to bid farewell to the fellows 
that I had gotten to know so intimately through many months. 
Perhaps it is Divisional pride that makes me feel that no other 
outfit can measure up to the 27th. 

After two months of work and study I emerged a Second Lieu- 
tenant, more popularly known as a "Shave Tail." A few days 
later I was briefly introduced to my Platoon, under cover of dark- 
ness and the woods, and we were on our way to the lines It was 
a quiet sector for green troops (I was now with the 88th Division). 

[ 171 J 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

However, we found a few thrills and a few prisoners. Toward the 
end of October we moved back to prepare for what later became 
known as the Metz Drive, which was started on November 10. 
At that time we were in Reserve and were traveling extremely 
light, even in rations. Then came the Armistice on November 11, 
1919. We tried hard to believe it when first we heard the news, 
for it seemed a bit too much. 

Following the Armistice we settled down in a battered hamlet 
and fitted up what few things we could for our comfort. Fire- 
wood was easily accessible from the nearby wire entanglements. 
We policed up the battlefields nearby, left-overs from the St. 
Mihiel advance. Having concluded that work we hiked for three 
days to the Gondecourt Area for the winter. Here, in many 
problems, we won over again the war just finished, despite the 
weather which became our real enemy. Every opportunity for 
sightseeing was seized, and most of us became fairly well ac- 
quainted with France. In March I secured my transfer to the 
82nd Division, which was scheduled to sail for home in April, 
1919. The Division was billeted near Bordeaux, so for several 
weeks I lived in the vineyard of France. 

As time passes the disagreeable incidents of life in the Army 
lose all unpleasantness. We like to recall the hikes that seemed 
unending at the time; the days when the mess was scarce; the 
close calls we had; that "fool officer whom nobody liked." My 
time in the Army has provided me with a fund of recollection 
which, if for no other reason, may prove valuable when I have 
to draw upon them to tell the stories my grandchildren will ex- 
pect. 



[ 172 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

GASTON SCHREIBER 

Born at Vienna, Austria, May 16, 1890. 

Attended Public and High Schools (coming to this country at the 
age of five). 



F. 



OR a short time I was in the employ of the Bank of Commerce, 
leaving that institution to associate myself with the Hanover 
National Bank. August 5, 1907, I enlisted in the First Battery 
Field Artillery of the old New York National Guard, and my first 
Captain was John J. O'Ryan. On February 22, 1915, the name 
of our battery was changed to Battery E, First Field Artillery, 
and on August 5, 1916, it was drafted into Federal Service and 
sent to the Mexican Border. During my uninterrupted term of 
eleven years in the Service I have held respectively the positions 
of Private, Corporal, Sergeant, and Top Sergeant of my Battery. 
At the time of declaration of war with Germany officers were given 
the opportunity to enter Officers' Training Camp, with the object 
of securing a Commission. I preferred, however, to remain with 
my regiment and was promoted to Second Lieutenant on Decem- 
ber 1, 1917. I left for France with my regiment, now the 104th 
U. S. Field Artillery, early in July, 1918. We were on the firing 
line during the Big Drive and furious battles preceding the sign- 
ing of the Armistice. 

[Mr. Schreiber continued in the Service, upon his return to the 
United States.] 



AUGUST H. SCHROEDER 

Born at Maspeth, L. I., N. Y., March 2, 1896. 

JlN JULY 4, 1916, I enlisted in the 23rd Regiment of Brook- 
lyn and served on the Mexican Border, from which I returned 
as Corporal of my Company. When war with Germany was de- 
clared I was called to the Colors, and after a few months' service 

[ 173 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

was made Sergeant. On May 30, 1918, was selected from my 
Company as a candidate for the Plattsburg Training Camp, where 
I received my commission as a Second Lieutenant, The following 
August I was made First Lieutenant. On August 29 went to 
Camp Upton, where my duties consisted in equipping and drilling 
men for overseas service. I was three times slated to go across, 
but fate turned me back to Camp Upton each time. 



LOUIS HENRY SEE 

Born at New York City, May 25, 1888. 

Attended Public School No. 55. Upon graduation continued my 
studies at the New York Evening Schools. 



M- 



.Y FIRST position was with Bradstreet. Later I entered 
the employ of the old Shoe and Leather Bank. May 26, 1918, I 
was drafted and for three weeks stationed at Camp Upton, L. I. 
From there I was sent to Camp Meade, Md., where the 79th Divi- 
sion was in training. July 9 we embarked for Overseas, the trip 
across proving eventful. Many submarines were sighted. The 
transport collided with an Oil Tanker at midnight July 14, which 
caused much excitement among the troops. Thirty-two of the 
crew on the ill-fated tanker perished, and it seemed very doubtful 
that the troopship would ever reach her port. I arrived at Brest 
July 18, and after three days at the Rest Camp there our Regi- 
ment started on a three-day trip to Chalancey (a village near the 
Swiss border) to finish training. This meant a month of hard 
work. Then our Regiment was sent to the Front, where we ar- 
rived after two more trying days of box-car travel and many 
all-night hikes. I was entrenched for a few days in the Verdun 
sector. At daybreak on September 26, after a terrific barrage 
which lasted all night, our Regiment received orders to go "Over 
the Top" in the direction of the Argonne Forest. Our Company 
was in excellent spirits and we charged the Huns with the custom- 
ary dash of the American soldier. While flanking an enemy 
machine gun nest in the vicinity of Montfaucon, I was shot in the 

[ 174 ] 




F. C. SYLVESTER 



REGINALD VAN VORST 




J. H. VERKOUTEREN 



EDWARD A. VOGT 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

arm and ordered to the rear for treatment. I recovered entirely 
at one of the Base Hospitals in France. Among the sights I 
shall never forget are the many devastated cities and villages. 
December 9 I embarked for the United States, arriving December 
21 after a stormy voyage. I entrained for Richmond, Va., where 
elaborate preparations for the "Homecoming" were in progress. 
We enjoyed the hospitality of the citizens of Richmond for two 
weeks. I was mustered out of the service from Camp Meade, 
Md., on January 18, and upon receiving honorable discharge re- 
turned to the Hanover National Bank. 



JOHN SLADE, Jr. 

Born at New York Citi/, January 22, 1900. 

Attended St. PauVs School, Garden City, L. I., for two years; 
St. George's School, Newport, R. L, for one year; and Law- 
renceville, N. J., Schools for five years. January 2, 1919, 
entered Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University, having 
already passed entrance examinations. 



I 



N JULY, 1918, I enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve Forces, 
and in August was called to Pelham Bay Camp. Transferred in 
September, 1918, to Yale Naval Training Unit and placed on 
inactive duty December 21, 1918. 



FRED. C. SYLVESTER 

Born at Mount Vernon, N. Y., October 31, 1885. 

Attended the Public and High Schools, Mount Vernon, N. Y. 



I 



RECEIVED my first business experience in a New York bank, 
and later entered the service of the Hanover National Bank. I 
enlisted in the Aero Department, Engineers Division, Road De- 
partment on November 8, 1918, and was sent to Garden City, 
L. I., for immediate Overseas duty, in the 10th Company, Engi- 
neers Division, 1st Training Brigade. I was not fortunate enough 

[ 175 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

to be sent abroad, however, and as my service was short, nothing 
occurred of particular interest during my enlistment. Upon re- 
ceiving my discharge I re-entered the employ of the Hanover 
National Bank. 



REGINALD I. VAN VORST 

Born at BrooUyn, N. Y., July 29, 1893. 

Attended Public ScJiool and Manual Training High School, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 



s 



IX weeks after the declaration of war I enlisted in the U. S. 
N. Reserve Forces, and was called to service September 1, 1917. 
I received a period of training at Yale Boat House, New Haven, 
Conn., and was transferred to Pelham Bay Park when the Camp 
was opened there during October, 1917. Later on, however, I 
was transferred to Fort Lafayette Station for Submarine Chaser 
duty. At this Station I was promoted to Coxswain and was 
shipped to the Monitor U. S. S. Amphitrite for duty along the 
coast. In July, 1918, I was rated as Boatswain's mate. One 
night in September of that year, in passing a line to a tug coming 
alongside, I met with a slight accident. My foot was crushed, 
but after treatment on the Hospital Ship Comfort and at the 
Naval Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y., I fully recovered. Toward the 
end of November I was sent to the New York Receiving Ship en- 
tirely fit for duty and was honorably discharged December 11, 
1918. 



J. H. VERKOUTEREN 

Born at Chicago, III., November 5, 1895. 

Attended Public School in New Jersey and New York University. 



N 



OVEMBER 24, 1917, 1 reported for duty at the U. S. School 
of Military Aeronautics, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., and 
our army life had begun. We found an intensive course of 

[ 176 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

study to pursue, consisting of the usual Infantry drill under detail 
command ; ai'my regulations, military law, machine gunnery, wire- 
less telegraphy, physics, airplanes (instruction and theory of 
flight), meteorology, motors of various types, aerial navigation, 
etc., with a little K. P. and Guard duty, of which the rookie in 
particular becomes well acquainted. Aside from our studies, an 
occasional hike was thrown in, and the balance of time was well 
spent in bunk fatigue. In February, 1918, I succeeded in gradu- 
ating, and with my class we proceeded to Camp Dick, Dallas, 
Texas, to be held in concentration, awaiting assignment to a Fly- 
ing Field. Shortly after we arrived at Ellington Field, Houston, 
Texas, and on the following day of our arrival I made my first 
flight. 

In a week from that time we became our own pilots, and as our 
abihty and confidence increased, we proceeded to the more diffi- 
cult tasks of formations, acrobatics, cross country trips, bomb- 
ing, etc. In the third week of our course nine of us, each in a 
machine, were sent up to take formation and flight within a few 
miles radius of the camp, which bordered on the Gulf of Mexico. 
Shortly after the flight was in progress a dense fog blew in from 
the Gulf, blinding one from another, although flying only a few 
yards apart. The machines scattered and dove, but the mist held 
thick within fifty feet of the ground, and at times closer. Flying 
at such a low level is far from being safe, especially with the 
ground obliterated, which is practically the only guide the pilot 
has. All planes were lost temporarily, but finally succeeded in 
arriving back at the field, with the exception of one which had 
fallen into a tail spin, imawares to the pilot, until he was too low 
to straighten out in time, and crashing to the ground, injured 
the pilot to a rather bad extent. 

Having almost completed my preliminary course with the best 
of success, one day in May while on a 140 mile cross country trip 
in Texas, while leaving the ground to return to my field, my 
machine side-stepped into the ground while making a bank. Al- 
though the machine was pretty well wrecked, I escaped with only 
a few minor bruises. Returning to the field later in the day as a 
passenger in another machine, we were forced to land in the 

[ 177 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

prairie with engine trouble. After fixing our motor we attempted 
to leave the field, which we found to be an abandoned rice field, 
with levees running crosswise. Unfortunately, the machine 
struck a levee and turned over, but this time only the machine 
suffered damage. Flying appeared fascinating to all, especially 
flight through and between the cloud layers. It was rather cus- 
tomary with the approach of a shower to fly through and above 
the clouds into the sunshine waiting for the storm to cease, with 
a little hope that your gasoline would hold out the longer of 
the two. This, however, did not always come out as expected. 

During the latter part of May, 1918, we completed this course 
and received our commissions. We were also ordered back to 
Dallas to recuperate; and in June we were ordered to Gestner 
Field, Lake Charles, La., to undergo a course in pursuit flying. 
After we had made good headway the camp was destroyed by a 
hurricane. Flying then being quite out of question for several 
weeks during reconstruction and arrival of new equipment, we 
were ordered to Rockwell Field, San Diego, Cal. After being on the 
road for several days, seeing nothing but sand cactus, we arrived 
at Los Angeles and then to San Diego to camp. We found this 
post an ideal spot, located on an island on the outside of the har- 
bor with the Pacific rolling up on its sandy shores. We then re- 
ceived single seated scouts with rotary motors, which traveled 
between 110 and 120 miles per hour, and being much smaller in 
size were far more sensitive and thus maneuvered much more 
easily. After undergoing several hours of acrobatic flying to 
become well acquainted with this type we were instructed to un- 
dergo several mimic combats, many of which were carried on 
above the clouds. We then received an additional aerial gunnery 
course. The machine guns were generally stationary, synchro- 
nized so as to shoot between the propellor blades, and our targets 
for high aerial practice consisted of balloons, parachutes and other 
objects drawn by another plane attached to a long cable. For 
low aerial mark we generally dove at targets on the water, the 
advantage being to see the location of the shots fired, all of which 
was carried on over the Pacific. 

On October 19 we were called to participate in a formation of 

[ 178 ] 




C. R. VREELAND 



W. H. WIESNER 




GEORGE H. WOODWORTH, JR. 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

100 planes, in flight over the city of San Diego, in honor of the 
Fourth Liberty Loan. Receiving assignment to a scout on this 
occasion several of us formed the left rear guard flying at an 
altitude of 10,000 feet. 

Our training then being at an end, several of my comrades and 
myself were ordered to report at Hoboken, N. J., for embarka- 
tion. Arriving on November 6, 1918, at Hoboken, N. J., while 
preparing to sail, news of the Armistice had been received, which 
shattered our hopes, but yet was a happy disappointment for 
us all. 



EDWARD A. VOGT 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., July 6, 1892. 
Attended Public School No. 84, Brooklyn, N, Y. 



u. 



PON graduation, having shown ability in mechanics, I ob- 
tained employment in a machine shop. After this experience I 
joined the staff of the Hanover National Bank as a repair man 
on adding, multiplying and subtracting machines. May 29, 1918, 
I was selected to give my services on Government work at Oak 
Street, New York City. My mechanical abilities enabled me to 
qualify with the Aeronautic Bomb Sight and Bomb Dropping De- 
partments. The Bomb Sight is a highly specialized mechanical 
instrument, which gives the bomber on the aeroplane the direction 
of his target. It gives the exact height in thousands of feet, 
velocity of wind in miles, and speed of air in miles. When the 
bomber is ready to release the bomb, he receives the location of his 
object according to the regulation of the above mentioned scales, 
thus permitting the bomb to reach its proper destination. 

Upon my discharge from the Government service in December, 
1918, I re-entered the employ of the Hanover National Bank. 



[ 179 ] 



SERVICE RECORD OF MEN OF 

CLARENCE R. VREELAND 

Born at Jersey City, N. J., September 27, 1896. 
Attended Grammar School. 

X TRIED to enlist in several branches of the Army but was 
turned down on account of underweight, but finally succeeded in 
getting into the Quartermaster Corps and was sent to Fort 
Slocum, N. Y. Later was transferred to Camp Meigs, Washing- 
ton, D. C. Was then ordered to Camp Colt, Gettysburg, Pa., the 
first exclusive Tank Corps Camp in this country, for duty in 
the office of the Camp Quartermaster. Appointed to Sergeant 
and Chief Clerk in charge of the Finance Division. 

[Mr. Vreeland's story is incomplete owing to absence,] 

WALTER H. WIESNER 

Born at New York City, June 3, 1898. 

Attended Public ScJiool No. 74 and Commercial High School. 



M- 



.Y FIRST employment was with a stock brokerage house. 
Later I became connected with the Hanover National Bank. 
On September 17, 1918, I enlisted in the Tank Corps and was 
sent to Camp at Raleigh, N. C, quartered with the 308th Bat- 
talion, Company C. After two months' training I was scheduled 
to leave for France in December, when the Armistice was signed. 
While at Raleigh I studied at the College of North Carolina, 
taking up Reconnaissance and Map Making. This branch of 
study entailed preparing maps drawn to a large scale, for the 
use of tank drivers, the tanks being navigated by chart very 
much as a ship, as far as the chart and compass are concerned. 
This method of navigation (as it may be called) is due to the 
fact that a tank driver's range of vision in time of battle is 
limited to about fifty yards. When tanks first made their ap- 
pearance, casualties were heavy, the drivers not being provided 
with devices which later on enabled them to overcome many of 
the diflSculties. In the earlier days they frequently became lost. 

[ 180 ] 



THE HANOVER NATIONAL BANK 

In one Battalion five tanks returned out of sixty-four on one 
occasion. At this time the forty-ton type is the latest in tank 
construction. This tank is operated by a crew of fourteen men 
and carries an armament of two six-pound guns and eight 
machine guns. The motor develops 150 H. P., giving it a 
speed of five miles per hour, and consumes five gallons of gaso- 
line each mile. The motor has sufficient power to drive the 
tank up forty-five degree slopes and break down trees nine 
inches in diameter. The smaller type of tank used is the whippet 
or "mud-hen." Those built in the United States are driven by 
two Ford motors, giving the craft a speed of eighteen miles 
per hour. Only two men are required to run the whippet. The 
United States contemplated using this type extensively in the 
Spring Drive. 



GEORGE H. WOODWORTH, Jr. 

Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., July 7, 1891. 

Attended Public School No. 26 and Boys^ High School, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 



U 



PON leaving high school I entered the Accounting Depart- 
ment of an Express Company, and in August, 1918, came to 
the Hanover National Bank. I enlisted in the U. S. Naval 
Reserve Force for Foreign Service duty, but greatly to my dis- 
appointment was not sent Overseas. I was in training at the 
Great Lakes Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, 111. This 
Station, situated on Lake Michigan, thirty miles north of 
Chicago, is said to be the largest Naval Training Station in 
the world. At times there were as many as 70,000 men in 
training at this point. I was released from active service in 
January, 1919, subject to the call of the Government, and re- 
turned to the Hanover National Bank. 



[ 181 ] 



It is much regretted that the Editors were unable to 
obtain stories from the following men: 



Bergen, John W. 
Burns, J. T. 
Downey, J. J. 

Gentry, Arthur N. 
gottschalk, o. g. 
HoLLEY, Russell A. 



Jacques, Irving R. 
Kohler, R. a. 
Larson, Oscar 
McNally, Jos. D. 
Plunkett, J. H. 
Stiebeling, N. W. 



TuRTON, John R. 



